


God Shattering Road Trip

by FyireMoon



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Aro/Ace Lysithea, Autistic!Lorenz, Background Black Eagles, Byleth is Genderqueer but uses She/Her, F/F, F/M, Las Vegas Wedding, M/M, Most of these relationships are eventual, NaNoWriMo 2019, Road Trip, Selectively Mute My Unit | Byleth, There are so many characters, bear with me while I get a handle on them, road trip au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-20 14:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21283136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FyireMoon/pseuds/FyireMoon
Summary: Byleth walks downstairs one morning and finds the members of the Golden Deer Biker Gang crowded around her dining table, she finds herself pulled into Claude's newest scheme: A Road Trip spanning the continental USA.
Relationships: Lorenz Hellman Gloucester/Leonie Pinelli, Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan, Raphael Kirsten/Ignatz Victor
Comments: 49
Kudos: 121





	1. It Begins

Byleth doesn’t suspect anything that morning. She gets out of bed, forces a comb through her tangled blue hair and pulls a bathrobe on over her pajamas. The smell of freshly brewed coffee fills her nose as she opens the door and steps out into the hall. 

Her father being up before her and making breakfast wasn’t an odd occurrence. The voices coming from the dining room, however, made her pause at the bottom of the stairs. They rarely had guests over, and certainly not at nine o’clock in the morning. 

“Ah, there you are, Kiddo.” Jeral appears around the corner, two mugs of coffee in hand, “You’re just in time.” She tilts her head quizzically, but accepts the drink and raises it to her lips. Her father had gotten the ratio of cream and sugar perfect. Soothed by the warm drink she trails after him into the dining room and promptly freezes in place when she sees the gathering of people around the table. 

Her students, her  _ ex- _ students. She hasn’t seen them in five years but she would know them anywhere. 

Claude was at the head of the table leaning over a map, Hilda lounging beside him filing her nails. Raphael was devouring a stack of pancakes while Ignatz implored him to take smaller bites. Lorenz was on his phone, a strand of violet hair twisting around his finger absently. Marianne is sitting quietly off to the side, a large wolf-dog at her feet. 

Jeralt sees the sudden flash of panic in her eyes and quickly puts his hand on her back, “See, Byleth, your old students came to visit!” His voice alerts everyone and suddenly all of their eyes are trained on her. Byleth wants to shrink between the floorboards and disappear. 

Claude stands and smiles, his messy brown hair framing his face, “Teach! Pretty rude to keep a fella waiting like that, wouldn’t you say.” He approaches her, that warm grin still firmly in place, “What’s with the surprised look, you didn’t think that we’d given up on you coming back, did we?” 

Lorenz sighs heavily, “Claude, give her a break will you.” He turns, resting his arms on the back of the chair and resting his chin on them, “It  _ is _ good to see you again, Professor. Sorry to barge in on you without warning.” 

She doesn’t know what to say. In all honesty, she’s wondering if this is a nightmare, a bad dream foisted on her by some cruel Goddess. Seeing them again hurts more than she had expected, dredging up so many feelings she thought she had buried. 

Thankfully Jeralt steps in and speaks, “Technically you didn’t barge in, I invited you.” Byleth whirls on him, her glare venomous. He tilts his head towards the kitchen and she follows him, glancing back over her shoulder one more time. They watch her go in silence, none of them moving. 

Byleth stands on one side of the kitchen island and rests her hands on the cool granite, resisting the urge to curl them into fists. Her father stands opposite her, loading a plate with some food. 

“I know you’re mad,” He starts, sliding the plate across to her, “But I invited them here for a good reason.” She stabs her fork into a pancake and chews angrily. Part of her feels betrayed. Her father knows why she had to leave the academy, and why she’d secluded herself in the house for the past few years. Her students must harbor anger at her for leaving so suddenly, but she had done it to try and let them forget her. 

“You need to get out of the house.” He takes a sip of his coffee, eyes closed, “And you were always happiest around these… Brats.” 

She sighs. He’s not wrong, but she’d rather know what grand scheme they all had about whisking her away before she agreed to anything. 

Picking her plate up, she gives her father one last glare and then stalks to the dining room again. There is a free chair at the other end of the table and she takes it silently, tucking into her breakfast. They all stare at her for a moment and, frustrated, she just gestured at the assorted maps and guides on the table. 

“I think she wants to know the plan.” Raphael clarifies around a mouthful of pancake. Byleth nods, spearing another bite of pancake. 

“Ah.” Claude rubs his hands together, “So you probably don’t know what we’ve been getting up too since the academy, but something we all decided before graduation is that we were going to become-” 

“A biker gang!” Ignatz cuts in, sitting forward, “The Golden Deer gang! We all got bikes and everything.” 

“It’s been…” Marianne tucks a strand of hair back into her bun, “Interesting.” 

Claude picks the conversation back up, “We facebook stalked your dad and he told us that you still ride your motorcycle, so I began planning, drum roll please.” He waited until most of them were drumming their hands on the table before he finished with a flourish, “A road trip!” 

There is a long beat of silence. 

Byleth lets her head fall to the side and meets her father’s eyes in the other room. She raises an eyebrow, incredulous. He stares back pointedly. 

They’re saved from having to respond by the front door opening. Lysithea and Leonie enter the room, each carrying a large cardboard box that they set down on the table. 

“Professor!” Leonie lights up when she sees her, her orange hair pulled back in a short side ponytail, “It’s good to see you!” 

Hilda leans in, reaching for the box, “Did you guys get the jackets?” 

Lysithea pulls the box away from her grasp, “Yes, let me open it first before you go clawing at it.” With a pair of scissors, she undoes the tape and pulls the box open, the smell of fresh leather filling the air. The boxes are filled with deep gold leather jackets, each bearing a moniker and a set of patches. 

Raphael passes her a jacket with the moniker “Teach” in bolded letters on the back. 

Byleth stands and leaves the room. 

The stairs creak under her feet as she returns to her room and sits on the edge of her bed. She doesn’t want to get pulled back into her old life. She loved her students, she really did, but in the five years since then she had tried to move on. There were always nights where her chest ached from missing those she had left behind. Now they were here, trying to pull her into their circle once more like nothing had ever happened. 

There is a knock on her door and after a moment Marianne slips into the room, “Uhm. Hi, Professor.” She stands in the doorway, wringing her hands, “I know we kind of threw this on you all of a sudden but ever since you left the academy Claude has been thinking of ways to find you again. You were so important to us.” 

Byleth looks at Marianne. The girl had always been a quiet, anxious one, but now she seemed sure of herself. Her hair was pulled fully away from her face and the dark bags under her eyes were surprisingly absent. 

_ Oh, what the hell, if she didn’t like it she could just go home.  _

She stands and moves to her closet, pulling open the doors and standing on her toes to reach the duffle bag that was on a high shelf. When she tossed it on her bed, a smile bloomed on Marianne’s face. 

“I’ll go tell the others that you’re on board.” She leaves the room and Byleth hears a cheer go up after a few seconds. She rolls her eyes and gets dressed, packing as quickly as she can without forgetting anything important. There are a lot of conflicting feelings rolling around in her chest, apprehension, fear,  _ excitement _ .

“Hey kiddo,” Jeralt knocks on the doorframe as he enters the room, “You decided to go?” 

Byleth nods and folds a sweater into the bag, brushing her hair out of her face. 

“That’s good. I think you would have crushed the heart of that Von Reigan brat.” Jeralt picks up one of the t-shirts she had thrown on the bed and folds it neatly. For a while, the two of them just fold in silence. 

“I’m glad you’re going, but I’ve gotten so used to having you around.” She can tell he is trying to joke but there is a note of sadness in his voice, “Guess I’ll have to start cooking for one person again.” 

Byleth puts the shirt down and hugs him, resting her head on his chest. Jeralt hugs her back, one of his overt dad hugs that nearly bursts her ribs. He releases her after a moment and they finish packing. By the time she’s walking back down the stairs the rest of the Golden Deer are dressed in their jackets and are cleaning up their plates. 

Claude meets her at the bottom of the steps, her jacket in his hands, “I’m glad you decided to come with.” He glances to the side, seeming guilty, “Although… I am sorry that it was so sudden.” 

She reaches out and takes the jacket from him, setting her bag down so she can pull it on. The leather is stiff and heavy, but it settles warmly against her body and fits perfectly. 

She smiles, and Claude grins back at her, the trickster gleam back in his eyes. 

— 

  
  


Byleth wonders what they must look like to the people driving past. Seven motorcyclists in golden jackets and one wolf-dog, who Marriane had introduced as Dorte, her emotional support animal. Hilda had bought him a harness that was the same colour as their jackets and bedazzled a pair of goggles. She learned quickly that they hadn’t been kidding about learning how to ride. Lysithea rode in a sidecar attached to Claude’s bike and Raphael was riding one that dwarfed all the rest. 

They had been more serious than she had anticipated. 

Claude was vague about where they were going first as apparently, he hadn’t found anything suitably exciting to do in Minnesota. They rode for two hours before he signaled for them to get off the highway. They wove through a few backroads and then pulled into a parking lot. 

A sign above the entrance read  _ Lake Itasca.  _

Hilda got off her bike and sighed, “Really Claude, a nature walk?” She frowns, “I don’t want to get sweaty.” 

“Come  _ on _ Hilda!” Leonie wraps an arm around the girl, “It’s our first stop, let loose a little!” Despite the complaints from the pink-haired woman, Leonie drags her off towards the beginning of the trail. Byleth follows, silent as always, as the group begins to make their way along the wooden paths. 

It’s a beautiful view, she can’t deny that. The tall green trees and the rushing river that trailed beside them were cast in the warm midday light that dappled through the branches. She took a deep breath of the clean air, feeling months of staying at home begin to roll off her shoulders.

When they reach the lake overlook Ignatz breaks off from the group. He settles down on a log off to the side and pulls a sketchbook out of his bag. Byleth glances at the rest of the group and then walks over to him and leans over his shoulder. 

“Oh, hi Professor.” Ignatz smiles up at her, “I’m just sketching the lake.” 

She takes a seat next to him and watches him begin to block out the view in front of them. Ignatz used to draw in the margins of his notes and tests, so she wasn’t surprised to see that he had upgraded to a full sketchbook and better pens. Last time she checked, his parents didn't approve of his art skills and had sent him to the academy to groom him for business. 

There is a flash behind them and Byleth turns to see Lysithea wielding a pretty serious camera, “Sorry, I thought I turned the flash off.” She clicks a button and raises it again, “Turn back around! It was a good shot.” 

Byleth does as she’s told, listening for the click before turning around again. 

Lysithea gives them a thumbs up and then comes to join them, pulling her long hair over one shoulder, “This place might not be the most beautiful view, but it’s still really nice out.” She nods in agreement and takes in the scene. The water reflects the sun as it crests gently on the shore, water birds pacing the sand or soaring above it to snatch fish from the depths. A family with several small kids chase each other around, throwing handfuls of water and laughing. 

“Hey, Teach!” Claude calls to her, “Come look at-” 

“Byleth.” 

They all turn to look at her, surprised to hear her speak her first words since they’d reunited, “What?” 

“Call me Byleth.” She sighs and stands, brushing the dirt from her pants as she approaches. 

“Oh.” Claude's cheeks are tinged pink, “Alright… Byleth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: The Dakota Zoo!


	2. Fear The Dear

  
“This is…” Lorenz trails off, “Nice.” He looks around the hotel lobby, fiddling with the strap of his bag. It is a nice hotel, at least in appearances. The floors are shiny and everything looks clean and golden. He doesn’t want to sound like a pretentious asshole, but he was expecting to find better lodgings after an almost 5 hour drive. His back hurt and he was exceptionally tired.

He’s also extremely tired of Claude’s attitude. They all had monikers that the leader staunchly insisted on using while they were driving.

Byleth was _“Teach”._

Claude was _“Barbassoa”._

Hilda was _“Valentine”._

Marianne was _“Princess”._

Lorenz was_ “Rose”._

Raphael was _“Sunshine”._

Ignatz was _“Monet”._

Leonie was _“Mercenary”._

And Lysithea was _“Warlock”._

He wasn’t upset about the monikers, he rather enjoyed being called “_Rose_”, and he also loved the way the leather jacket hugged his lithe form, but when Claude snapped them out like orders it took away the fun.

“Nice?” Raphael claps him on the shoulder, pulling Lorenz back to the moment, and gazes up at the mirrored ceiling, “This place is amazing!”

Now Lorenz really feels like a pretentious asshole.

Claude and Byleth return from the reception desk with a stack of keycards in hand, “Alright everyone.” He holds them up, “We have room assignments. Leonie, Hilda, and Marianne are in one room, Lorenz and I are across the hall, Raphael and Ignatz are next door and Byleth and Lysithea are across from them.” As he speaks he passes out the cards. Lorenz accepts his and double checks the room number, surprised at how little he cared about having to share a room with Claude. Maybe it was how exhausted he was.

They had to take two elevators to their rooms in order to fit them and their bags.

Byleth checks her phone on the way up, resting one arm on Lysithea’s shoulder as she does so. Her father had yet to reply to her message about getting to the hotel, and she was debating pretending to be offended. She had insisted on rooming with Lysithea since she didn’t trust anyone else to be in the room with her.

Besides, they all needed sleep to go to the Dakota Zoo tomorrow.

In the morning after a fitful sleep and a cheap hotel breakfast, they set out for the Zoo. Marianne seemed the most excited about today’s trip, Dorte trailing carefully after her. Byleth was worried about losing someone in the crowds. As they trailed through the different exhibits she fell back into her old teacher habits and kept counting their heads.

_Two,_ Claude and Leonie were standing outside the pen of a very agitated Bobcat.

_Four, _Lorenz and Hilda were tossing Zoo-Approved Seed into the enclosure with a flock of peacocks.

_Six,_ Ignatz and Raphael were looking at a bear, Ignatz almost completely obscured as his boyfriend hugged him from behind.

_Seven,_ Lysithea was sitting on a bench, running her hands along her thighs and enjoying the sun.

“Shit.” Byleth hisses under her breath, looking around, “Where’s Marianne?”

The blue-haired girl is nowhere to be seen in the immediate area. Byleth leaves the group behind and follows the flow of the crowd as she looks. She knows that she should probably be calling her name, but she doesn’t want her voice to be heard by anyone else around.

Finally, Byleth spots her on a bench in the corner. She’s sitting with her head in her hands and Dorte’s head resting on her knee, nuzzling his face against her elbow. Byleth approaches slowly and sits down beside her.

Marianne looks up, her eyes wide, “Oh, Pro-I mean, Byleth.” Her hands are clenched in her lap, “I... I got lost.” Byleth puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. The girl is shaking badly, her eyes darting around the crowd around them. Slowly, forcibly, Marianne relaxes her hand and rests one of Dorte’s head, carefully stroking the dog's thick fur.

She takes a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I got stuck in the crowd and lost you all. I panicked and ended up here somehow…”

Byleth rubs slow circles on her shoulder, letting her take the time to steady her breathing. Five years ago something like this would have derailed Marianne for days, but she seemed to be recovering quickly and finding her center again. A rush of pride for the girl fills her chest.

She stands and offers Marianne a hand with a soft smile. The other girl takes it and stands, still petting Dorte’s head. Together they make their way back to the rest of the group, stopping for a few minutes near the cage of a few baby Lynx.

“They’re so cute.” Marianne coos, clutching the wire fence that separated the guests and the animals.

“Marianne!” Hilda’s voice, rimmed with panic, breaks through their distraction, “There you are!” She practically tackles her girlfriend, hugging her tight, “I was so worried when I turned and you weren’t there! I’m so sorry I didn’t notice!”  
  
Marianne pulls away, blushing, “It’s okay, Hilda, I froze up and couldn’t call out to anyone.” She smiles at Byleth, “Thankfully someone came and found me.”

Byleth gives her a thumbs up.

Hilda pulls Marianne in for a quick kiss, “This is the one time I can’t have someone else do my job, I’m not letting you out of my sight again, Babe.”

The rest of the group catches up, Leonie holding the map over her head, “Guys! We should go to the Elk Overlook!” Without taking the time to have anyone suggest anything else she seizes Lorenz’s wrist and starts to pull him along. He, in turn, grabs Ignatz’s wrist and thus a long chain of them forms as Leonie weaves them through the crowds and enclosures at a rapid speed. Byleth takes up the rear, rolling her eyes at how some things never change.

They could deny it all they wanted but none of her students had ever changed.

So much so that they were still having trouble calling her by her name.

They step out onto the surprisingly empty overlook and crowd at one end, watching the elk graze beneath them.

“We should take a picture!” Raphael beams, “We’re the Golden Deer after all!”

Marianne’s brows furrow, “Deer and elk are two different things…”

Her words fall on deaf ears as Raphael is already moving to intercept a couple and asking them to take their picture. Lysithea hands over her camera and they all gather up.

“Alright,” Claude grins and then rests his hands on his head with his fingers spread to form antlers, “Everyone say ‘Fear the Deer’!” Everyone copies the motion, except Byleth, who is too busy rolling her eyes at the cheesiness of it all.

“Fear the Deer!”

The picture is still adorable despite the ridiculousness of it all. They all look silly with their hands on their heads, smiles wide on their faces as Byleth rolls her eyes in the center. When they took it she hadn’t been realizing she was smiling, or just how soft the expression on her face was.

Back in the hotel that night she sends the picture to her father, including the group's new catchphrase with it. Even though she should be sleeping she can’t stop unlocking her phone to look at it. Something about the easy joy on all of their faces makes her chest clench with a strange mix of nostalgia, pride, and happiness.

She sets the photo as her phone background, plugs it in and rolls over to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: Mount Rushmore!


	3. Two Birds, One Stone

It’s official, Hilda thinks, after three hours of driving through plains and cornfields, she hates driving. Sure, she had agreed to all this willingly, even fighting her father and Holst to let her get a motorcycle in the first place, but three hours of corn was too much.

She tapped the mic inside her helmet, connecting to the channel that all of them shared in case they needed to talk on the road, “Can we pull over for a stretch break?”

“Tired already, Valentine?” Claude jokes, his voice tinny over her headphones, “There’s a gas station one mile out we can stop at.”

“Thank you,” She gushed, “I love you, you’re my favorite person ever.”

Leonie piped up, revving forward to drive beside her, “Get your own channel.” She saluted Hilda, her voice teasing and warm, and then she moves forward again. The others would never say it to her face, but Leonie was a bit of a drag racer. Even now she wove between them with expert control until she had passed Claude and Lysithea. She revved her engine at him and then sped up.

Of course, Claude followed suit.

Hilda sighed, watching the two bikes get further and further away from the group. She wouldn’t be surprised If the two of them blew past the rest stop and just kept going.

Lysithea’s voice came over their headphones, “I want a new driver that _ doesn’t race down a highway!” _

To everyone’s surprise, Leonie and Claude did make it to the rest stop. By the time the others pulled in they had parked in the back corner and were pretending to fight, Lysithea perched on the edge of her sidecar taking pictures.

Hilda leaped off her bike the second she parked, pulling her helmet off and shaking her hair free. She _ refused _ to have helmet hair. The small gas station was empty save for a few beat-up trucks on the other side of the lot. It looked small and rustic, and that made her nervous.

Shaking herself she wandered up to Marianne, “My back hurts…” She whines, rubbing at her shoulders, “Mariiii, help meeee.”

Ignatz glances at the gas station, biting his lip, “We probably shouldn’t stay here long, although we could probably use a snack.” He adjusts his glasses, exchanging a look with Raphael who stood across the group from him, “I don’t think they’ll like us much here.” The space between the two of them makes Hilda pause, suddenly feeling like there were hundreds of eyes watching her.

Lorenz nods, “I agree. Although It wouldn’t be very hospitable of them to throw paying customers out.” He moves towards the shop but he doesn’t get far before Byleth stops him with a hand on his chest. With her free hand, she points to Leonie and Raphael.

Leonie brushes her fingers through her hair, “Yeah, you should probably let us handle this one.” She motions with a jerk of her chin to Raphael and the two of them disappear inside.

"I could have done it.” Lorenz sniffs, turning away from the building.

Claude claps him on the shoulder, “Of course, because there’s nothing Lorenz Hellman Gloucester can’t handle!”

He brushes Claude off, “I don’t appreciate the sarcasm. I could have taken anything these backroad-“

Byleth rounds on them, her eyes sparking like they always did when the two of them had started to argue in the past, “No one should have to ‘handle’ anything.”

Lorenz and Claude separate, both surprised by the intensity of her voice. She stares them down for a long moment before turning again and returning to Lysithea’s side.

Hilda giggles, “You two are funny.” She clasps her hands in front of her, “She’s not our teacher anymore but the two of you still fall into line when she gives you that look.”

Claude glowers at her, “Thanks, Hilda.” He glances at Lorenz, “I’m sorry.”

Lorenz sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “No, I shouldn’t have gotten so defensive, I am sorry.”

Hilda rolls her eyes and turns away, “Good _lord,_ you two are terrible.”

\--

By the time they finally make it to Mount Rushmore the incident is far from their minds. Instead, they are all marveled by the sight of the monument in front of them. Claude doesn’t let them ogle for very long before shooing them to a more secluded part of the viewing platform.

Raphael gazes up at it, “Wow! It’s so much bigger than I expected!”

Ignatz hums in agreement, “It is an impressive feat of engineering… If only it didn’t…” He trails off.

“Suck?” Claude offers, “Nothing white guys love more than big statues of their faces!” He looks up at Rushmore and then proudly flips it off. They all stare blankly at him for a long moment.

“Did you bring us here just so you could flip them off?” Leonie asked arms crossed over her chest.

He’s not even remotely ashamed, “Yeah, for the most part.”

Hilda throws her hands in the air, _“_Four hours of corn just for this! Claude Von Riegan I am going to strangle you!”

“Aw, but Hildaaa,” He slides over and wraps his arms around her, “You’re not tall enough to strangle me!”

“I’m still strong enough to throw you over the security railing!” She replied sweetly, returning his hug just a little too hard. The two of them continue to bicker as the others turn away. Dutifully, Ignatz begins to sketch the mountain, but after a few moments of staring sadly at the page, he omits the faces from the picture.

“It would be so much prettier without them.” He mourns, seeing Byleth watching over his shoulder again.

Raphael joins them at the railing, “Do you think I could punch them off? The heads, I mean.” From behind them, Leonie says ‘yes’ at the same time Lysithea says ‘no’. Immediately another debate is sparked, this time between Leonie’s unwavering belief in Raphael’s strength and Lysithea’s ideas of logic. They pester Raphael for details and the younger girl steals a page from Ignatz’s sketchbook to do calculations.

The artist simply rolls his eyes and continues drawing, tuning out the others.

Byleth begins to realize that they all talk around her. It’s not that they forget she’s there, but rather there are so many dynamics between them that she has missed. They have forged bonds of five years together, she only knew them as classmates. She can’t blame them for being friends, but it is isolating to watch.

That’s it, she feels like she’s _watching_. She’s not a part of the trip she’s a spectator.

“Come on, Marianne!” Leonie’s voice brings her back from her thoughts, “You can’t just say ‘maybe’!”

The blue-haired woman sighs, “I know Raphael is strong but I don’t think he could punch the heads off the mountain.”

“See!” Lysithea waves her paper in the air, its surface covered with math, “Marianne agrees with me!”

Leonie sighs and turns to Lorenz, “What about you?”

He shrugs, “While I’m sure Raphael is very strong I’m not sure a mountain is within his grasp.”

Raphael shakes his head, “I could totally do it! My muscles are stronger than you’re giving them credit for!” he flexes to prove his point, the leather of his jacket groaning from the action.

Leonie turns to Byleth, “What do you think?”

Byleth shrugs, still not fully listening. She’s already feeling tired and overwhelmed by all the people. Part of her is debating sneaking out in the night and going home, if she’s going to be invisible she might as well be invisible at home, right?

Something bumps into her side and she jumps, looking up to see that Claude had wrangled Hilda back over to her, “Hey Teach,” he grins at her, “How are you feeling? You look exhausted.” She shrugs again, turning away.

“You tired?” Raphael is suddenly in her space, having overheard Claude, “Here! I’ll carry you!” He scoops her up before she can resist. It’s like she weighs nothing to him, even as she throws her arms around her neck to keep from falling.

“How’s that?” He beams at her, pure sunshine, “We can’t have you getting tired on us yet, Byleth!”

“Careful, Raphael.” Ignatz puts a hand on his arm, “Don’t drop her.”

“I would never!”

“Alright Gang,” Claude holds up his hand to get their attention, the other still holding Hilda to his side, “Let’s go get dinner, shall we?” A cheer of agreement goes up, earning them some angry looks from other tourists. They quickly head back to their bikes, Raphael _still_ carrying Byleth despite her attempts to get down.

Claude leads them to a hotel, where they all drop their bags and then meet at the restaurant in the lobby. It’s a fairly nice place but a little overpriced for Byleth’s, and Leonie’s, tastes. Claude insists that he’ll pay for them, but that does little to ease her apprehension.

“So, Teach.” Claude sits forward, one hand cradling the glass of bourbon he’d ordered, “What happened to you?” The table falls silent, clearly surprised by Claude’s bluntness. It’s one of the things most people appreciated about him, he never talked circles around a difficult conversation, he just asked.

Byleth takes a sip of her tea, wincing at the taste of burnt jasmine, “I got sick.” She meets his gaze across the table, unflinching. She wasn’t going to say more than she needed too, and he could scrutinize all he liked. Answers were never enough to satisfy a mind as cunning as his.

“Sick?” He raises an eyebrow, “You seemed fine before you left.”

“I was relieved of my teaching duties.” She hates how much he’s forcing her to talk, but she doesn’t know how else to give them the answers they deserve, “I got sick just after leaving, it left me bedridden for two years.” She doesn’t want to give them the details of what happened. They deserve answers, she believes that, but there are things about her sickness that she’d rather not have to relive. Heart attacks are a gruesome affair.

Claude opens his mouth to speak again, but Lysithea slams the end of her fork on the table and interrupts him, “Stop interrogating her!” Her voice is filled with venom, “She doesn’t have to tell us! Why can’t you just let her be here with us without needing her to prove something to you?”

The words hang in the air over the table. Claude can’t respond, his mouth hanging slightly aghast in shocked silence.

Lysithea straightens up, “I’m going to bed, please excuse me.” She turns and leaves without another word, the tension staying behind in her place.

“Well done, Claude.” Lorenz raises his martini as if to toast, “You’ve managed to insult two people with one question! That’s a new record, isn’t it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: Yellowstone!


	4. Candy Bribery

Breakfast the next morning is tense. Claude is uncharacteristically quiet and Lysithea digs into her pancakes like they were the ones to insult her. When Byleth had gone back to the room the night before the girl had been curled up in bed pretending to be asleep. She didn’t open her eyes when Byleth came in or moved around the room getting ready.

She’d gotten no explanation as to why the girl had exploded as she had, but Byleth knew it wasn’t really about her sickness. Something Claude said must have dug at what Lysithea herself was going through.

B yleth took a picture of the tense breakfast scene and set it to her father with the caption,  _ “Guess who’s already fighting?” _

He replied with  _ “They lasted longer than I expected.” _

She laughs out loud before realizing, drawing all their gazes.

Leonie’s voice is strained, “Something funny, Profess- I mean, Byleth?”

Byleth looks at them for a long moment before smiling, “My father is surprised it took this long.”

“What took this long?” Claude snaps, voice harsher than he meant. He winces at himself and hides his face under the guise of drinking his coffee. Byleth’s smile remains in place, not even phased, and she gestures to the whole table. She doesn’t need to elaborate this time, they all know what she’s referring to.

Lysithea sighs. picks one of the free straws up off the table, and blows the wrapper off at Claude. It hits him in the middle of the forehead, bouncing off to land on his plate. He gapes at her.

“I feel better now.” She curls her hands around her mug of coffee, “That’s all I needed.”

He plucks the straw wrapper up and waves it at her threateningly, although there’s a grin on his face that he can’t seem to resist, “I’ll get you for that, Von Ordelia.” The moment he looks away Lysithea sticks her tongue out at him, quickly acting normal when the others laugh and he looks back up.

Byleth leans back in her chair, satisfied. She was glad she still knew how to cut the tension between them all. It may have been five years, but she knew what made them tick.

Leonie rolls her eyes and sits forward, crossing her arms on the table, “Come on guys, we have a long drive today. Less fighting, more eating!”

“Hear, hear!” Raphael cheers, taking a large bite out of a piece of toast, “That I can get behind!”

Marianne laughs, “Where are we going next? I’m already lost…”

“Yellowstone National Park.” Claude says, waving his fingers like a mage casting a spell, “For another one of Hilda’s favorite things: A nature walk.” She groans loudly at the mention, a hundred excuses falling from her lips to try and get out of it.

“I have a headache!” She insists, “A migraine really, I don’t think I can do something so strenuous today!”

“Hilda, we’re going on a hike  _ tomorrow _ .” Ignatz says, taking a sip of tea, “That’s plenty of time for your miraculous headache to heal.” Marianne laughs again and Hilda gasps at her girlfriend.

“Don’t laugh at me!” She tries to look offended but Marianne’s laugh just makes her smile, “I’m injured I tell you! I can’t go on a hike!”

Byleth polishes off her coffee with the tired sigh a grizzled cop on a murder case, “Some things never change.”

-

They stayed at a motel near Yellowstone. Lorenz and Hilda almost murdered Claude on the spot, undaunted by him insisting that it was for ‘the true road trip experience’. Leonie, Ignatz, and Raphael were relieved, however, to stay somewhere in their price range. Byleth and Marianne were neutral, and Lysithea was too tired to complain. The girl collapsed on her bed the second Byleth let them into the room. She looked pale and exhausted.

“Are you okay?” Byleth crouched by her bedside to be eye-level with her.

“Everything hurts.” Lysithea mumbled through a curtain of blonde hair, I just need to lie down.”

Byleth didn’t believe her, but without knowing more there wasn’t anything she could do. She decides to give her the space she asks for and excuses herself outside. Claude is out by their bikes on his phone, his head tilted up towards the sky as he spoke to someone on the other end.

“No, Dad, I’m fine.” He’s saying as she approaches, “Nothing’s happened so far.” Claude glances over at her when she gets closer, mouthing  _ one second _ , “Dad, I promise I’d tell you if anything was going poorly. Have a little faith! … Okay, I need to go now, Teach is here. Bye Dad, love you, tell Mom I say hi.” He hangs up the phone with a long sigh, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“Problems?” Byleth asks, leaning back against the bike across from him.

“Just a father who’s nervous about his son being out of sight.” Claude says simply, tucking his hands in his pockets, “He’s nothing compared to Hilda’s father though.” He lets out a long whistle, eyes wide just from the thought of living with a family  _ that _ overbearing. His freedom means far too much to him. 

“How’s Lysithea?” He asked, blatantly changing the subject, “She looked like she was having trouble when we got here.” Byleth looks over her shoulder towards her room, face awash with concern. Lysithea’s problems aren’t his to share, but Byleth left before she could find out and Claude knew Lysithea would rather die than let him help after he’d pissed her off.

“Listen, Teach.” He steps closer to her, trying to ignore the flutter in his chest from the motion, “Don’t tell her I told you, because she will kill me, but Lysithea is struggling more than she wants us to know. She was diagnosed with MS right before you left and it’s been getting worse since then. Nothing seems to help her.” He looks past her towards the rooms, “She’s always been stubborn but she’s got it in her head that asking for help will make her seem weak or something.”

“I know how she feels.” Byleth stares at her feet. She’d refused help for a long time when she was sick.

“Oh yeah?” Claude tilts his head, “How did you learn to not think like that?”

She smiles up at him suddenly, teasing, “By having a father who got nervous when his child was out of sight.” Then she stands up and jerks her head to the side, a clear motion for him to follow. Byleth leads him across the road to the small strip mall on the other side, beelining for a candy store nestled on the corner. Claude was going to ask what her plan was, but he knew better than to interrupt her when she got such a determined look on her face.

The candy store smelled like sour sugar, the strong scent stinging his nose. Everything was painted in pink and blue swirls like a glucose fever dream, but Byleth ignored her surroundings on her mission. She loaded up a bag with several types of hard candies like Sweettarts, Skittles, Candy Fruits and Bottle Caps, seemingly indifferent to how much she grabbed. When she got up to the counter she turned, grabbing Claude by the front of his jacket.

“Wait, what?” He stared, wide-eyed as she pulled him closer, “Teach?” She ignored him and, to his relief and continued confusion, started to rifle through his pockets until she found his wallet.

“Left mine in the room,” Byleth said simply, pulling his credit card free and then passing it to the cashier.

Claude let out a deep breath, trying to calm the hammering of his heart in his chest, “Ask next time!” She just grinned at him, passing the card back and picking up the candy.

She was  _ evil,  _ pure evil.

When Byleth returned to the room, Lysithea hadn’t moved. She was still curled on the bed, hunched in on herself. Byleth cracked open the bag of candy and held it out to her, letting the smell of sugar and fruit rouse her from her spot.

Lysithea rubbed her eyes, sitting up stiffly, “Where’d you get this?” She reached for a piece but Byleth pulled the bag away, holding up one finger.

She sat on the edge of her bed, the candy balanced on her knee, “When I was recovering, I used to insist that I could do everything on my own.” She rolls the words in her mouth, carefully keeping track of her prepared speech, “The truth was that I couldn’t, not even remotely, and in doing so I not only hurt myself but also the people around me. People tried to help, and I pushed them away. It was only when I started to accept help and let myself realize that it wasn’t bad to  _ need _ help, that I started to get better.”

Byleth held the candy once more, “Asking for help is a strength in itself.” Lysithea stared at her for a long moment before she reaches out, slowly, and takes a piece of candy.

“Thank you.” Lysithea murmured, “For the candy, and the advice.”

Byleth gave her a thumbs up.

-

“Hey, Hilda!” Leonie calls down from the top of the rock, “How’s that headache?”

“Shut up!” Hilda yells back, twisting a strand of pink hair around one finger as she poses for a selfie with the view behind her, “Headaches are a serious business.” She takes her picture and then pounces on her girlfriend to take some pictures of the two of them, even making sure to include Dorte.

“Sure, sure.” Leonie shakes her head and sits down beside Ignatz on the rock, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Ignatz is absorbed in his sketch, barely noticing her presence. Byleth leans against the railing at the edge of the cliff, checking her pulse after a steep hike. It seems steady enough, but she’s still nervous about starting another heart-related episode. Lysithea steps up beside her and raises her camera to take a few pictures, her hands steadied by the railing.

Byleth is proud of her, she’d asked Raphael that morning if he would mind carrying her if her legs hurt.

When he’d overheard, Claude had stared at Byleth like she was a god and she was treasuring that look. It’s not every day that she manages to one-up him.

As if sensing that she was thinking about him, Claude appears beside her, leaning against the railing with a map, “Before I forget, Raphael is down the trail a bit. He found a food stand.” She nods, turning so that she was facing in and had her back to the view. Lorenz was currently trying to climb the rock where Leonie and Ignatz were, daunted by the red-heads taunting. He gave up after a bit, glaring up at her, and then stalked off towards a different side of the outlook. Leonie bit her lip, looking after him.

“We didn’t invite you with us as a chaperone, you know.” Claude’s voice pulls her attention, even if he doesn’t look up from the map as he speaks, “You’re supposed to be having  _ fun _ .” She bumped his shoulder to get him to look up at her, and then pointed at the back of her jacket, her brows furrowed.

Which was Byleth for:  _ If you didn’t want me to be a chaperone, then why did you write ‘Teach’ on my jacket? _

She had a point.

“It’s your nickname.” He defended, “Well, it’s my nickname for you… I also had no other ideas on what to use.” She rolls her eyes.

She had been rolling her eyes at him a lot.

“I tried, okay!” He looked back at the map, flustered, “Just enjoy the view, Teach! Enjoy the damn view!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Next stop: The Garnet Ghost Town


	5. Welcome To House Hunters

“For the last time,” Lorenz pries Lysithea’s hand off his arm, “It’s a ghost town, not a haunted town, there are no actual ghosts.” With a whimper, Lystihea darted to Raphael's side and clung to him instead. She was greatly misunderstanding the definition of ‘ghost town’, her phasmophobia taking over. 

Ignatz turned and shushed them, tilting his head back towards the tour guide.

“Garnet was originally a gold mining town,” The guide drawled, “At its most popular there were about 1000 people who lived here.” 

“It’s kind of quaint.” Hilda whispered, raising Lysithea’s camera to take pictures, “I would live here.” 

Claude stared at her, “No you couldn’t.” 

“Yes, I could.” She aims the camera at him and he throws up a peace sign. 

“You’d have to pump your own water, and probably couldn’t bathe much,” Claude argued, putting a hand over the camera and pushing it away from him. Before she had descended into her fear, Lysithea had left strict instructions to get serious pictures. 

“Yeah,” Hilda turned to take a picture of a mill, “That sounds wonderful!” She begins to point out cabins, “We all could! You could live there, and Byleth there, then Ignatz and Raphael, me and Marianne and then Lorenz, Leonie and Lysithea could have that big one!” 

“That’s a saloon.” Leonie joins the conversation, “So I’m absolutely living there.” 

Ignatz glowers at them over his shoulder, “If you had been listening you would know that there were  _ thirteen  _ saloons.” 

“Okay,” Leonie holds up her hands. “That’s excessive.” 

As they walked, Lystithea began to come out of her shell, clearly realizing that she was safe in the daylight from the ghosts she was so convinced was out there. The guide let them loose to explore the town and while she stuck close to Raphael’s side, she also took back her camera and continued taking photos. 

That is until Claude snuck up behind her and yelled “boo!” In her ear. She screamed bloody murder and sprinted away from him, nearly flinging her camera over her head. 

Leonie spun around on him, furious, “Seriously, Claude?! We were just getting her to enjoy herself!” She bent down and picked a stick up off the ground, proceeding to smack him with it while further berating him for being mean. He tried to run but Leonie was faster and chased him down. 

The two of them were promptly escorted from the town proper by security. 

Byleth, who had separated herself from the group at the very start, watched it all with a sign. She had been talking to one of the other tour guides, or more accurately, listening to the full history of the town. 

The guide looked at the two of them getting escorted away and then back to Byleth, “Are they… with you?” 

She turns away and takes a sip from her water bottle, “They’re adults, It’s not my turn to watch them.” 

The guide laughed, “Fair enough.” 

To further add insult to injury, Byleth gathered the group together and made them stay to explore the town longer, drawing out the amount of time that Claude and Leonie had to sit in the visitor's center and think about their mistakes. It took a while but they were eventually able to get Lysithea fully on board with the difference between a Haunted Town and a Ghost Town. 

“Hey.” Lorenz called their attention to where he was standing in the doorway of one small cabin, “I am a professional tea drinker, my budget it five million dollars. Welcome to House Hunters.” The group descends into laughter and then Hilda steps up and pushes him out of the way. 

She poses in the door like a model, “I’m a freelance rock painter and my budget is seven billion dollars. Welcome to House Hunters.” 

“I’m a part-time salad spinner,” Ignatz says, his voice mockingly close to Lorenz’s, “My budget is 20 thousand dollars.” 

Raphael picks him up, bridal style, “I’m gay, give me a house for free!” 

Marianne doubled over from laughter, “That’s… That’s not how that works!” 

“It should be!” Raphael kisses Ignatz’s cheek and then sets him down. Byleth claps her hands together, an amused smile on her face, and circles one finger around her head. They follow her back to the visitor’s center to collect their two delinquents. Lorenz and Hilda left large donations to make up for the trouble Claude and Leonie had caused. 

“I think I have bruises…” Claude whines, following them back to where they parked, “You hit me so hard.” 

“To be fair,” Leonie crosses her arms, “You deserved it.” 

“I did not!” 

“Yes,” Lysithea pipes up, indignant, “you did!” She had chocolate smeared on her cheek from the candy bar she had bought in the visitors center. Hilda wipes it off with her thumb, laughing lightly. 

“What about you, Teach?” Claude sidles up to her, smirking, “What do _you_ think?” 

She looks at him, eyebrow raised, “You still act like a child.” 

He seems genuinely hurt by it, “I prefer free-spirited.” 

“I prefer not having you all getting in trouble.” With that, she pulled her helmet on over her hair and keyed on her bike. Claude says nothing, his mouth twisted into a displeased line. The ride back to the hotel is oddly quiet. She knows that she hurt his feelings, but he  _ was _ being childish. There were times where it was endearing, like Lysithea’s love of sweets or Raphael’s boundless optimism, but making a mockery of someone’s fears was over the line. 

They stop for dinner at a small restaurant and eat quickly, exhaustion draining the last dredges of conversation from them. When they make it back to the hotel and get off their bikes, Claude forces a smile. 

“Make sure to get some rest.” He insists, “We have a long ride tomorrow.” 

Hilda groaned, “Can we get a rest day?” 

“We’re on a schedule.” Claude flicks a strand of her hair out of her face, “We haven’t even been going that long.” 

Marianne wrings her hands, Dorte sitting obediently by her feet, “I don’t know, Claude, I think we could all use a day to rest up, maybe explore the two we’re staying in a bit.” 

He sighs, “Fine, but our next stop is going to be pretty fun.” 

Byleth steps forward, linking her arm through his, “More fun if we’re rested.” She taps his cheek with one finger and then pulls him towards the hotel. He lets himself get pulled along, on edge because of the others questioning his plans. He had been setting this all up for almost two years now and not even five days in they were already changing things. Taking a deep breath he tried to brush it off, remembering that not everything goes according to plan, whether he likes it or not. 

He hadn’t been expecting Byleth to give him so much trouble. In the five years she was gone so much had changed, and he didn’t know how to handle it. At every turn, she dodged his expectations. Even when she insulted him, he knew she was right. Those green eyes had a way of cutting straight to his core and seeing him for all he was.

It was frustrating, yet exhilarating all the same. 

He couldn’t wait for what she did next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for Reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: The World Center for Birds of Prey   
(This ones for you, Leonie)


	6. Birds of a Feather

“When you said you wanted a rest day, I should have known it was just an excuse to shop.” Claude glares at Hilda, shifting one of her shopping bags to his other arm. 

She pushes her sunglasses up onto her head, smoothing back her loose pink hair, “It’s called  _ recharging _ , Claude.” Then she looks around the shopping street, a frown curling her lips, “Where did Marianne and Byleth go?” 

Claude shrugs, “Dorte wasn’t allowed in the store so they went down the road. I think Teach is looking for something to send her dad.” 

Hilda hums deep in her throat, “Interesting. Hey, Claude?” She rests one hand on her hip, “Why won’t you call her Byleth?” 

“What, am I not allowed to call her ‘Teach’? I’ve always called her that.” He looks away, down the street, “Where did they go, do you think?” 

“Don’t avoid the question.” She sighs, pulling out her phone to text her girlfriend, “You’re not subtle. We all know the real reason we’re on this trip.” Claude doesn’t answer. From the distant look on his face, he’s retreated into his head and is no longer listening. Marianne texts Hilda her location and slowly, to make sure Claude follows, Hilda starts towards them. 

She spots Marianne sitting on a bench outside the post office, feeding bits of cheese to Dorte off of a deli sandwich. 

“Hey, Hon.” Hilda sat down beside her, leaving over to kiss her girlfriend's cheek, “Where’s Byleth?” 

“Inside,” Marianne weaves their fingers together, kissing the back of Hilda’s hand, “She’s mailing a few postcards.” Then she glances up at Claude, who is still staring off into the distance, “Did you break him?” 

“No.” Hilda twists a piece of hair around her finger, “He’s just avoiding my questions.” 

His eyes dart down to them, “No, I’m just-“ 

“What is he avoiding?” Byleth interrupts, stepping out of the post office with a receipt in her hand. 

“Nothing.” He says, far too quickly. She raises an eyebrow in response and tucks the receipt into her pocket. 

Marianne stands, pulling Hilda up with her, “Come on, we should head back to the others, It’s getting late.” 

-

That night, after dinner and feeding Dorte, Hilda pulls Marianne into bed. She doesn’t turn the lights off right away, spending a few minutes running her fingers through Marianne’s long hair. 

Marianne tilts her head up to look at her, “What’s wrong?” 

Hilda sighs and absently presses a kiss to her head, “I’m worried about Claude. I don’t think that he’s thought this through. Sure, it’s been fun but he does realize that this trip will end, right?” 

With a hum, Marianne adjusts so she’s resting on the pillow beside her girlfriend, facing her, “I don’t think he wants to think about it.” 

“I know. He put so much into planning this just for Byleth, if it goes wrong I don’t know what he’ll do.” 

“All we can do right now is keep an eye on him.” Marianne says, brushing Hilda’s hair out of her face before rolling over to turn off the light, “And try to get some sleep.” 

Hilda cuddles closer, “I love that you’re always right.” 

-

Leonie bounces in her seat, “I’m. So. Excited.” 

Lorenz crosses his legs away from her so he didn’t get hit by her erratic movements, “I just hope none of them come towards me.” He smooths down his hair, glancing around the small amphitheater at the World Center for Birds of Prey. Even though it was misting and there was a distinct chill in the air, the seats were nearly full. They’d had to split their group into a few different sections of seats, Lorenz and Leonie ending up in the middle a few rows down from Ignatz and Raphael. 

“Falconry used to be a noble art, you know.” Leonie flipped open the brochure she had taken and points at a series of fun facts on the inside, “You might have owned a falcon back in the day.” 

He wrinkles his nose, “I don’t much like birds.” 

“This is why you’re no fun.” Leonie sighs, looking back towards the center, “If you’re going to be such a downer go sit with Lysithea.” 

Lorenz chooses to be quiet as the presenter comes out onto the small stage. The woman is tall, blonde and wears a serious set of leather gauntlets on either arm. She begins to explain the history of the center in a booming voice, her bright presence almost distracting everyone from the dark-haired woman that wheeled a few covered cages onto the stage behind her. 

“Let’s bring out our first bird!” The woman moves to one of the cages and carefully extracts a gorgeous Peregrine Falcon. Leonie gasps in awe, her hand latching onto Lorenz’s knee like she needed to be steadied. 

“This is Tibarn.” She introduces, “One of our oldest, and fastest, birds.” 

Lorenz glances away from the bird to the woman beside him. Leonie was leaning forward, her eyes shining and her lips pressed tight together from excitement. He doubted that she was even listening to the woman’s speech, just mesmerized by the bird itself. She would be a natural up on the stage wrangling birds. 

He keeps the comment to himself despite his urge to tell her, because after all a noble like him can’t compliment the riff-raff. His father’s voice echoes in his head, firmly reminding him to keep his place. 

As he watches the bird swoop up and around their heads, powerful wings pumping the air before diving after the lure, he felt like he was watching his own life unfold. It made him distinctly uncomfortable, imagining himself as the bird and his father as the one holding the lure, always yanking him back towards the earth and away from his freedom with shallow promises. 

Lorenz squirmed in his seat and looked away, focusing on a point off towards the far wall. 

He barely noticed when the show was over until he was pulled from his dark thoughts by Leonie grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet. She chatters incessantly as they make their way through the crowd to meet up with the others, but he finds he can’t process her words despite wanting too. 

Byleth gathers them up quickly and starts to usher them towards the two women who had worked the show, a game smile on her lips. When they reach the stage she jumps up and taps the blonde woman on the shoulder. 

“Catherine.” Byleth takes a step back as the woman swings around. 

“Byleth Eisner!” The woman captures her in a bear hug, “I never thought I’d see the likes of you here!” She waves to the dark-haired woman, “Shamir! Look who it is!” 

Shamir stands, brushing the dirt off her hands as she comes forward, “I saw them earlier.” She says, voice as stoic as usual, “I figured they’d track you down. It’s good to see you, Byleth.” 

“You too.” She says, and then gestures to the assembled Golden Deer behind her, “Can I bribe you to let us see the birds up close?” 

“For an old friend, I’ll do it for…” Catherine pauses, thinking. 

“At least $50,” Shamir says, standing and holding out her hand. Byleth groans and digs her wallet out of her pocket, assembling the desired cash and handing it over. Shamir pockets it quickly without giving any to the woman beside her. 

“Follow us!” Catherine says, full of bravado and show even though the actual production was over. 

The two women lead them into the back which is lined with small enclosures housing the various birds. Catherine began to name and describe each while Shamir went ahead. She returned a moment later with a few thick leather gloves. 

“Who wants to hold one?” She holds up the gloves. 

Leonie’s hand is immediately in the air, “I do!” She beamed, “That would be amazing!” Shamir hands her a glove and began instructing her on how to hold it before leading her to a cage with a horned owl inside. Lysithea steps forward with her camera, taking a few pictures of the process, and then Leonie with the owl on her arm. 

The redhead is beside herself with excitement, “This is the best!” 

“You can pet him.” Catherine puts some food on Leonie’s mit, “He imprinted on humans as a baby so he’s a friendly one.” 

Claude looked pleased with himself off to the side, and his smile only grows smugger when Byleth steps us beside him, “I knew she’d love this.” He grins at the scene in front of them, “I planned it with her in mind.” 

Byleth nods slowly, a small smile on her face as well. She liked seeing them all so happy. Gareg Mach Academy hadn’t been the happiest or easiest place to be. Leonie hadn’t smiled then like she was now.

Catherine passed the smallest owl Byleth had ever seen to Raphael, who was nearly moved to tears as it nuzzled against his cheek. Lysithea laughed, her smile bright as she snapped pictures left and right. Even Lorenz was eventually roped in, standing stiff and scared as Shamir instructs him to hold Tibarn, the hawk from earlier. Leonie said something to him that made him even more indignant, but when she looked away his expression deflated. 

Byleth filed away a mental note to check in with him later. 

She turned to Claude and put a hand on his shoulder, pulling the oldest teacher trick in the book, “You did well.” The effect was immediate, his face lit up in an even bigger smile, one of pride at his work. 

Her father had taught her that trick and she was glad it still worked. 

Catherine looped her arm through Byleth’s, “Come on! You’ve got to hold one too!” She pulled the woman away, laughing. Byleth let herself get pulled along, 

Maybe Claude was right, she  _ wasn’t  _ there to be a chaperone despite the name on her jacket. 

Maybe it was time, after all these years alone, to finally let herself have fun. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was so dense! Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: the Space Needle!


	7. Artist Alley

“Finally!” Hilda throws her hands in the air, “Back in the city!” The breeze that blows in off the ocean is chilly and Byleth retreats further into her scarf. Seattle is a beautiful place but she would have been happier wrapped in a blanket back at the hotel. Riding in the rainy weather had left a permanent chill in her bones. 

Raphael loops an arm around Hilda’s shoulders, “What’s wrong with the countryside?” 

“There’s less shopping in the country.” She replies, pointing down to the bustling outdoor market below them. The neon sign above it reads Pike’s Place. Despite the chill, a steady flow of people were streaming through the side doors. Following Hilda and Raphael’s lead, the group filters into the marketplace. The thin walls only slightly trapped the warmth from the industrial heaters on the ceiling. 

A shiver wracked Byleth’s body as she followed the others along stands will all sorts of wares. There were stands full of bright produce, hangers holding upcycled clothes and shelves of shiny leather bags. 

“Hey.” Claude steps up beside her, “You cold?” 

“I’m fine.” She says, but her point is further dissuaded by her chattering teeth. Without a word, Claude pulls over the heavy overcoat he was wearing and drapes it around her shoulders. She tries to resist but the garment is heavy and warm, and the words fall flat on her lips. 

“Don’t make it weird, Teach,” Claude says, looking away and running a hand through his hair. She doesn’t, instead adjusting so she’s wearing the jacket properly. Turning her gaze back to the different stalls she makes a mental note to buy him something as a thank you. 

“Guys!” Raphael appears before them suddenly, a few toothpicks with samples on them in his hands, “I love this place!” 

Ignatz shakes his head, smiling fondly, “Don’t forget, we have a big dinner tonight, Raphael.” Going against his own words he takes one of the samples and pops it in his mouth, eyes widening at the taste, “Oh wow.” 

The rest of their trip along the marketplace follows the same trend, the group buzzing from stall to stall like bees to bright flowers. Along the way, Byleth picked up a few souvenirs for her father and then towards the end something shiny and gold catches her eye. 

It’s a small cuff earring engraved with small, jeweled antlers. Byleth picks it up carefully and brings it to the registers, smiling to herself. It’s a perfect gift, much better than anything she was expecting to find. She wraps it carefully and tucks it into the inside pocket of Claude’s jacket. 

He notices her smile when she returns to the group, “What’s got you so smug, Teach?” 

She lets her grin serve as an answer. 

\--

“That.” Leonie looks up, swallowing hard, “Is a  _ tall _ tower.” 

Ignatz nods, “It’s quite an impressive feat of engineering. And the top spins!” 

“Yeah!” Raphael wraps his arms around Ignatz, “It’s where the restaurant is!” Dressed up like they are, in nice suits and dresses, they hurry towards the building to escape the cold. The group slowly filters through the doors and among the crowd. The gift shop at the bottom of the tower is packed with tourists, making it hard to fight their way to the back of the room where the elevator was. Raphael squishes himself into the back of the small elevator, apologizing as he elbows accidentally knock Lystihea in the head. She just rolls her eyes and ducks under his arm 

The spinning restaurant is fancier than Raphael was expecting. He breathes in the warm smell of food, sighing happily while they waited for their table to be ready. Beside him, Ignatz weaves their fingers together, his free hand holding onto Raphael’s sleeve. The green-haired man is looking up at him, eyes loving. 

“What?” Raphael smiles, leaning down to kiss him, “What’s that face for.” 

Ignatz shrugs, “Nothing. Just grateful.” Raphael can’t respond as Byleth is waving them on to follow them as a waiter leads them off. 

They were sat down at a long table next to the window. The view was amazing from the top, the whole city and the ocean in view as the building turned slowly. They sat down and ordered, falling into easy conversation.

“Oo!” Hilda leans across the table, “Claude! Is that a new earring?” 

His face flushes and he raises one hand to the gold earring that Byleth had gotten him, “Yeah, You could say that.” 

“It’s pretty.” Marianne comments. She was holding hands with Hilda, clearly a little nervous without Dorte’s presence beside her. 

“Thank you,” Claude says, meeting Byleth’s eyes. She didn’t react, her expression carefully schooled into neutrality as she sips her tea. 

Lysithea digs her camera out of her bag, “I’ll be right back, I want to take some pictures around the other side.” 

“Don’t get lost.” Leonie winks at her, her beer halfway to her mouth. 

“It’s a circle.” Lorenz, missing the joke, seems confused, “She can’t get lost.” Everyone stared at him for a second and then lets it go. Byleth’s eyes lingered on him for a moment. She had tried to puzzle his discomfort out but he had talked circles around it with an expert air. He had been learning how to throw people off since his academy days because she hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t answered her until later. 

“Hey, Ignatz,” Claude changes the subject, “How're your sketches coming?” 

“Good!” Ignatz beams, “And thanks to Lystihea’s pictures I’ve started colouring some of the older ones. I have some pictures on my phone if you want!” He pulls the device out of his pocket and begins to show off his work. The sketches themselves are amazing, the coloured ones practically coming alive on the page. 

Raphael practically bursts with pride, “You’re so talented, Ignatz! You should start a gallery!” 

Ignatz blushes, “I don’t think I’m talented enou-” 

“You are.” Byleth speaks up for the first time today, her hands wrapped around her mug, “I think your art is wonderful.” 

“See!” Raphael ruffles his boyfriend's hair, “Even ol Professor knows it!” She shoots him a pointed look, “I mean, Byleth, not professor!” 

Ignatz stares down at his phone, flipping through his pictures, “Thank you, everyone.” 

“What if…” Marianne bites her lip, looking at her girlfriend, “You two could have a joint gallery?” 

Hilda’s eyes lit up, “That’s true! Holst has been on my case about putting my jewelry projects out there, but I don’t ever want to part with them. They’re too expensive and intricate to wear though, so a gallery would be perfect!” 

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly!” Ignatz holds up his hands, an embarrassed flush warming his face, “I’ve seen your work Hilda mine isn’t nearl-” 

Claude was invested now, “You both have such an elegant sense of style though it would be like, the most aesthetic place ever. You would call in some pretty popular patrons.” 

Lysithea rejoined them, startled by the boisterous energy at the table, “What’s happening?” 

“Ignatz and Hilda are going to open a gallery!” Leonie beams, pulling the younger girl down into her seat. 

Again, albeit futile, Ignatz tries to speak up, “I never said-” 

Lorenz snaps his fingers, “Oh, Hilda! I have that beautiful rose pin you made me a few years ago, I’m always scared of breaking it should I wear it.” He continues twirling a piece of hair around his finger, “It would look amazing next to the picture of the sunset Ignatz just showed us!” 

“Sorry to interrupt,” Their waiter appears again, “but your food is here.” They all fall into a comfortable silence as they dig into their food. Lysithea barely finishes her food before she is already asking for a dessert menu, practically drooling over the options. 

“Lorenz,” Raphael looks down the table at the purple-haired man, “You’re barely eating anything!” 

Lorenz looks down at his meal, a simple stew that he was thoroughly enjoying, “Yes, I am.” He supposed that they were all expecting him to eat something fancier, like the meal that Claude is eating, “I like it.” He insists. 

Byleth waves her fork at them all threateningly, “Leave him alone, let him eat.” Her old teacher's voice slips through and they all laugh. She sighs, stabbing her fork into a chunk of potato, but lets them have their fun. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a day late! Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: Portland, Oregon!


	8. Red Buttons

Lorenz sips his coffee, gazing out at the street. Portland was a beautiful city and he was glad to have the chance to rest. He looks away from the street to the woman across the table, watching Hilda blow across the top of her latte. Their mugs had a silhouette of a pegasus stenciled on them, reflecting the coffee shops name: The Winged Mare. Soft indie music plays through the speakers and the fiery redhead behind the counter warmly greeted each customer who came through the door. 

“How do you think they’re doing?” Hilda’s voice shakes him from his revere. 

“What?” He blinks, brushing his hair out of his face, “Oh, you mean the others?” 

“Yeah.” Hilda looks out the window to the building across the street, “Which team do you think will win?” The building across from them has dark tinted windows and a neon sign above the door that reads, The Great Escape. That is where the rest of their group currently was, split into two teams that were puzzling their way through who knows what. 

Lorenz had backed out due to the sensory nightmare that he knew he’d find inside, and Hilda had bailed because she didn’t want to get sweaty. 

“Claude’s team has an advantage because they have Lysithea.” Lorenz reasons, drumming his nails on the table, “But Leonie, Ignatz and Raphael probably still have a better chance of winning.” 

Hilda grins, “Because Claude and Lysithea will argue over the correct answer while Byleth and Marrianne just stand around?” 

He takes another sip of his coffee, savouring the warm, honeyed taste, “Exactly.” 

Neither of them were wrong, as in the basement of The Great Escape a fierce battle was taking place. Leonie, Ignatz and Raphael were clearing rooms quickly, only encountering problems when the puzzles involved getting their whole team through small gaps. Raphael’s broad form didn’t mix well with those, while the other team thrived in the hands on ones. 

A yellow painted door swings open and Claude, Lystihea, Byleth and Marianne spill out, wiping sweat from their foreheads. 

“That.” Claude panted, taking a moment to lean against the wall and catch his breath, “Was a lot of crawling.” Byleth only groans in response, pulling her dark hair back away from her face. Marianne quietly passes her a hair tie off her wrist, her cheeks pink from exertion. 

Lysithea rubbed her hands, “Can we do one of the less physical ones?” She wrinkles her nose, “My legs hurt.” They were all impressed by her fortitude, although it was most likely due to the amount of sugar she had ingested just before they got here. 

“Yeah, that would be good.” Claude straightened up, and dug a small map out of his pocket, “There’s another code breaking one to the left, it’s a red door this time though.” 

“We can do it!” She marches forward to the room and after making sure they were cleared to enter, held open the door. The other three piled in and as the door closed behind them, they found themselves in darkness. Marianne yelped at the sudden drop in light, her hands catching in the fabric of Byleth’s shirt. 

A red light came on across the room in the form of a large button. 

“Oh that’s never a good sign...” Lysithea whispers. It came much too late though, as the second Claude saw a big red button he was already pressing it. 

In good news, the lights came back on, illuminating a room with several locked boxes and a computer. 

In bad news, a ten minute timer above the exit started to count down. 

“I’m sorry, guys.” Claude held up his hands, “I couldn’t help myself.” Byleth cuffs him over the head, mostly just succeeding in messing up his very sweaty hair. They spread out around the room, investigating each box. 

It took them nine minutes and forty five seconds to solve the puzzle. When they finally get out of the room Leonie, Raphael, and Ignatz are waiting for them. They compared scores and turned in their filled up maps for some mediocre prizes before they made their way across the road to join Lorenz and Hilda. 

“This is important!” Hilda stops them all before they can say anything to her, “Which team won?” 

Leonie raised a hand, “Mine.” Instantly Hilda groaned and started digging her wallet out of her bag, passing a few $10s to Lorenz’s outstretched hands. 

“Really?” Lysithea asked, sitting down at the long table beside them, “You were betting on us?” 

Lorenz shrugged, “We got bored.” 

Claude rolls his eyes, “Sounds right. I’m going to get something to drink, want anything, Teach?” 

“I’ll come with.” She drops her bag at the table and grabs her wallet, following him up to the counter. 

“Hello.” The woman behind the counter, a soft, curly haired woman whose name tag read Sumia, greeted them with a smile, “What can I get for you?” 

“Can I get a large mocha please?” Claude asks, “And a matcha latte for my friend here.” Byleth tries to protest but he waves her off.

“Of course!” The woman types their orders in, pauses, and then looks to the woman beside her, “Olivia, do we still have mocha beans?” 

“Yeah, Cordelia just got them refilled.” 

“Perfect!” Sumia rings them up, “Thank you!” The two of them moved off to the side to wait for their order.

“Hey, do you remember that day Edlegard, Dimitri and I skipped school to go to an escape room?” Claude smiles, leaning back against the counter, “Seteth was so mad I thought we were going to get suspended.” 

Byleth hums low in her throat, “I remember bailing you out of trouble.” 

“You always were.” He replies, “Still are, apparently.” Someone slides their orders across the table and Byleth takes an eager sip of hers, letting the refreshing taste coat her mouth. Bailing Claude out of trouble had been her life at the academy, and already on this trip she’d had to do it more than once. 

Maybe some things would just never change between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: California to visit an old friend~ 
> 
> ((Also, if you want more of Awakening Coffee Shop AU, check out Reunited by WritingWithMolls here on AO3! It’s such a good fic!))


	9. Strike Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapters! I was hoping I could keep up with one a day but it might have to be more jumbled than that. 
> 
> I hope these two chapters make up for the lateness!

Claude won’t tell them the next destination. No one trusts his secrecy and promises of it being ‘fun’ after the Mount Rushmore debacle, but they don’t have any other choice. 

Which is how they find themselves deep in rich, wine country California, driving along a road lined with mansions and sprawling vineyards. He leads them confidently up to the gate of a large white house. 

Peeling off his helmet, Claude reached over and pressed the button for the intercom. A familiar voice echoes over the low quality speaker. 

“Who is it?” 

“Claude von Reigan.” He leans forward on the handles of his bike, “How are you doing, Hubert?” 

“I was doing better before you showed up.” Hubert drawls. The others exchange a look, wondering how in  _ hell _ Claude had managed to track down Hubert Von  _ Fucking _ Vestra. 

“You going to let us in?” Claude brushes his hair away from his face, “I believe I traded you some time alone with Ferdinand for a few hours to harass- I mean, visit, the princess.” Hubert laughs, cold and humourless, but the gate clicks open and slides back. 

Claude puts his helmet back on, “Come on, Gang.” He starts up the driveway, and they follow slowly, taking in the massive, pristine house. 

A plaque above the wide porch reads “Von Hresvelg”. 

“Wait.” Leonie leaps off her bike, “Is this… Edelgards house?” Claude just winks at her and takes the front stairs two at a time. Several of the Golden Deer step forward as if to stop him, but they’re too slow as he loudly knocks on the door. 

A few seconds later, a tall woman in a red silk robe opens the door, “Who-” Suddenly her eyes widened and she gasped, “Claude? Hilda? Is that… Professor Byleth?” Dorothea steps out of the doorway and pulls Byleth into a tight hug. Byleth hugs her back, keenly aware of how little her former student is wearing and also marveling at seeing her again. She hadn’t taught the Black Eagles but many of them had still become her close friends. 

“Darling Edie will be so happy to see you!” She steps back and holds Byleth at arms length, “All of you! Well,” She looks at Claude, “Maybe not you.” 

Claude, who had covered his eyes the second Dorothea started to move, finger gunned in her general direction, “I’m counting on that.” Most of them had covered their eyes in fact, as the wind was pulling at Dorothea’s very thin robe. 

“Opps.” Dorothea pulls her robe closed fully, winking at them, “Come in!” She led them into the grand foyer, “If you head down that way you’ll reach the kitchen, I know Hubie left some coffee in the machine.” She disappears upstairs, leaving them to make their way to the kitchen. Byleth and Hilda immediately beelined for the coffee, settling down with steaming mugs of caffeine. 

A few minutes later, Edelgard and Dorothea entered the room again, both fully dressed. Edelgard had twisted her hair up into two buns one either side of her head, her red pantsuit freshly ironed. 

“Claude.” She crosses her arms, glaring at him, “I don’t recall ever saying you were welcome in my house.” 

He stands and steps forward, towering over the smaller woman, “You say that, but there is a picture of me, you and Dimitri on your fridge.” He smiles, and holds out his arms for a hug.

“Shut up.” Edelgard threatens, but she steps forward to hug him regardless. Her eyes slide past him and land on Byleth. She steps to the side, straightening her jacket. 

“Professor.” She gives an awkward half bow, “It’s been too long.” 

Byleth smiles, “It’s good to see you again, Edelgard.” 

“How did you even get in here?” She refocused her attention to the whole group, “I doubt Hubert would just  _ let _ you in…” 

“The gate was just open.” Claude shrugs, lying through a sip of coffee he stole from Hilda’s mug. 

“Whatever you managed to bribe him with, let me know.” Dorothea stage whispers, leaning across the counter. 

“Darling.” Edelgard says pointedly, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your concert?” 

“A concert?” Lysithea leaps on the thread of conversation, “Are you in a band?” 

“Yes!” Dorothea beams, “It’s me, Bernadetta, Caspar and Petra. We’re the  _ Strike Force _ .” 

Marianne blinks, “That’s a lot of old names in there.” 

“You guys should come! We’re playing in Caspar’s garage at 6:30 tonight.” Dorothea grabs a scrap of paper from a basket on the counter and scribbles down an address, “I’ll see you there, bye Babe!” She flourishes away and leaves Edelgard alone to deal with Claude and his fools.

“So.” Claude suggested, “What should we do?” 

Edelgard sighs, “We’re going to get lunch. I don’t want you here long enough that you’ll break something.” 

Ignatz laughed, “That’s fair.” They walk to their bikes and Claude tosses Edelgard a helmet.

“Oh no.” She says, “I’m not riding with you.” 

“Come on, Edelgard.” He smiles at her, “It’ll be fun.” The others are already ready and waiting, and she caves under the pressure, pulls the helmet on over her hair and climbs on behind him. It’s not like she’d never been on a motorcycle, Hubert had one that he sometimes took her around on during the summer. It was more she didn’t trust Claude’s driving skill. 

“So.” His voice in her helmet scares her, “You and Dorothea, huh?” 

“What about it, Claude?” She sighs, “We were together at the academy.” 

“Oh, I know. You two seem pretty comfortable. Are you two going to make it official anytime soon?” 

“There’s no rush, is there?” Edelgard says quickly, grabbing his shoulder as they go around a turn. As far as she can tell no one else can hear their conversation.

“No need to get defensive, Princess.” Claude soothes, realizing he had clearly touched a nerve. Edelgard was hard to read, but her reactions were consistent if someone pushed her buttons. 

“I do think about it sometimes,” She admits, “but I don’t want to scare her off.”

“You said it yourself, there’s no rush if you’re happy.” 

“What about you, Von Reigan.” Edelgard interrupts, tired of talking about herself, “When are you going to make it official?” 

“There’s nothing  _ to _ make official.” 

She scoffs, “Please, we all know your feelings for the professor are beyond just friendly.” He doesn’t respond, instead speeding up through a yellow light and pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant she had told them about. 

“We’re here!” He got off quickly, tossing his helmet over his handlebars, “Time to eat!” 

After their late lunch it was nearly time to head to Dorothea’s concert. Edelgard lead them to Caspar’s house, which was just as large and extravagant as hers, and surprisingly crowded for a garage show. Caspar was ecstatic to see them, practically running circles around Byleth and asking her questions at a million miles per hour. 

“Bernie, Bernie, Bernie!” Caspar suddenly broke off from them and darted to the garage where the shy girl had appeared, “Look who it is!” He scooped her up, either from how energetic he was or to keep her from running away, and carried her over to the group. 

“Professor?” Bernadetta’s eyes were wide, “You’re alive? I thought you were dead! Wait, I didn’t mean it like that-” 

Byleth holds up her hand, “It’s okay Bernadetta.” She smiles, “I did vanish quite suddenly.” Bernadetta still looks scared but doesn’t continue rambling. Caspar kisses her forehead and sets her down as Dorothea and Petra approach the group. 

“It is good to be seeing you all!” Petra beams, waving. Her scarlet hair it long and twisted back in a series of intricate braids. 

“You too.” Ignatz returns the smile, “What do you all play?” 

“I play the drums!” Caspar cheers, “Bernie is on keyboard, Dorothea sings and plays the bass and Petra plays guitar.” 

“Ferdinand used to be of our group, but Dorothea removed him.” Petra nods, solemn. 

“Well, hold on.” Dorothea waves her hands, “I did not  _ remove _ him! I simply… Convinced Hubert to help him find a new hobby.” 

“Ooo.” Leonie teases, bumping her shoulder against Petra’s, “Band drama.” The two of them walked off to continue talking and the rest split into groups accordingly. Caspar talked with Ignatz and Raphael while Bernadetta fawned over Dorte with Marianne’s permission. Dorothea and Edelgard had somehow ended up in an intense discussion with Claude, Lorenz and Hilda, while Leonie and Lysithea were filled in on the past five years from Petra. 

“Oh, professor!” A voice startles Byleth and suddenly she is tackled from behind by a very tall man, “It’s been too long!” 

“Ferdinand.” Hubert appeared beside them, chiding the ginger haired man, “Release the professor.” 

Ferdinand does what he’s told, releasing Byleth and spinning around to face her, “Sorry for getting  _ excited _ about seeing an old friend.” He clasps her hands, “How have you been! We all missed you so much!” 

Byleth is saved from responding by Edelgard zeroing in on Hubert, “You!” She thrust a finger in his face, “For the last time, Hubert, you don’t need to sneak out to see Ferdinand you can just ask! Although next time don’t saddle me with Claude!” 

There is a faint smile on Hubert’s face, “Yes, Lady Edelgard.” 

She rolls her eyes, arms crossed over her chest, “Impossible.” She mumbled, turning away, “Just, impossible.”

“Excuse me.” Dorothea says into the mic, silencing the crowd, “We’re going to start now.” She smiles, resting her hands on her guitar, “But before we start I just wanted to give a special thank you to the Golden Deer Biker Gang for coming to our show! This first song is for you lovely people.” 

The crowd cheers and Byleth slips through the crowd to join her group. Raphael picks Lystihea up and puts her on his shoulders so she can see above the crowd, Hilda pulling Marianne off to dance. 

“Hey, Teach!” Claude leans in to be heard over Dorothea’s stunning vocals, “Want to dance?” She can’t reply as Leonie is pushing the two of them onto the designated dance floor. Claude manages to loop an arm around her waist, keeping the two of them together beneath the colourful flashing lights. Surrounded by moving bodies and loud music, even she felt the urge to follow suit. 

So, in the middle of the dancers, Byleth raised her hands above her head and began to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: Las Vegas!


	10. More Than She Bargained For

“This will go poorly.” Byleth comments, standing between Hilda and Claude as they played Blackjack. The lights and sounds of the casino were starting to grate on her nerves, but she knew she had to be there to keep order among their group. Let loose in the casino’s of Las Vegas they could only cause destruction. 

Getting to Vegas was a blur after a day of driving and breakfast with Dorothea and Edelgard. Finding their way to the correct hotel, finding parking and getting everything settled took far longer than they had hoped. It left Byleth exhausted and utterly unwilling to participate in the gampling that was happening. 

She trailed away from them to find Raphael and Ignatz who were in the arcade section winning an absurd amount of tickets from the strength games. Raphael was putting his old woodcutting days to the test by hitting a sensor with a mallet, the bell dinging with each hit. 

“Hi, Professor!” Ignatz said, his arms full of tickets, “How is it going?” 

“Fine.” She pinched one of the tickets between her fingers, “You two are doing well.” 

“Hell yeah!” Raphael flexed his free hand, “These muscles aren’t just for show!” She smiles and leaves the two of them to their games and loops back around. Leonie, Lorenz and Lystihea were sitting at the bar. Byleth was amazed at how much was packed in on this one floor. 

“Hey,” Lysithea greeted as Byleth sat down, a maraschino cherry twirling between her fingers, “You’re just in time for Leonie and Lorenz’s hell drinking contest.” 

Leonie, who was scribbling on a napkin, glanced up, “It’s not hell, it’s  _ fun _ . Do you want in, Byleth?” She shakes her head and Leonie shrugs. 

“We should get the others,” Lorenz drums his nails on the table, a martini by his elbow, “They would enjoy it.” Leonie gasps in excitement and runs off from the table. A few minutes later she was pulling the others to the table, even managing to track down Marianne from the quiet spot she had been hiding in. 

By the time they had ordered all the drinks, they had needed to pull over another table. It starts as trivia, losers drinking something at the winner’s behest. The more the drink the more sloppy and absurd the questions become, the more they lose and thus the cycle repeats. 

Lysithea’s eyes gleamed, “Oh, this will be fun.” 

—

The next morning, Byleth walked back into the suite with two boxes of doughnuts, a bag full of egg sandwiches and a tray of coffees.. Lysithea was sitting in an armchair the living room, her legs thrown over one arm and her laptop balanced on her knees. 

She looks up when Byleth enters, a smile on her face, “Did you deliver the notes?” Byleth nods and passes her a large, sugary frappuccino before taking her own tea and sitting down on the couch. 

Lysithea takes a long sip, “Now we just need to wait.” She continued typing, and when Byleth leaned over her shoulder she saw that the girl was putting together a PowerPoint presentation. Down the hall a door opened and the two of them froze, waiting with bated breath for if it was one of their group members. 

Someone knocked and Lysithea called out, “Come in!” 

Ignatz opened the door, blearily stepping through into the room, “Good morning.” His glasses were pushed up on his forehead, dark bags under his eyes. Raphael trails in after him, yawning widely. The two of them join Byleth on the couch.

“What was the big mystery?” Raphael asks, his voice uncharacteristically reigned in. Byleth digs a large sandwich out of the bag and hands it to him, passing a smaller one to his boyfriend. 

Lysithea tents her fingers, grinning, “When the others arrive I will tell you. All shall be revealed.” 

A few minutes later, Hilda, Marianne and Dorte filter in. Hilda takes a seat on the couch while Marianne sits at her feet, resting her head on her girlfriends lap. Lorenz, Claude and Leonie came in shortly after. All of them look equally ragged and sensitive to sound and light.

“Alright.” Claude says, rubbing his eyes, “What’s the big deal?” 

“Well,” Lysithea stands swiftly and walks her computer over to the TV, “You all got absolutely plastered last night and some fun things happened.” She nods to Byleth, who rose and disappeared into her room for a moment. When she returned she was holding something in her hand that she lay carefully on the table. 

Two diamond rings, clearly from a wedding. 

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. All their eyes were wide, laser focused on the rings lain on the table. Claude rubbed his eyes a few times as if he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. Ignatz began to silently cry. 

“What.” Leonie just stared, “The. Fuck.” She looked like she was frantically trying to remember the events of last night, to no avail. Raphael was trying to calm Ignatz down, even though none of them knew why he was even crying in the first place.

Lysithea plugged her computer into the TV and hit play. 

Wedding bells began to ring on a lingering black screen. A few blurry and low-res pictures fade in, showing two figures standing hand in hand in front of an archway. The video zooms in, slowly clearing up to reveal who they are with a crescendo. 

Lorenz and Leonie, faces flushed from alcohol, slip rings onto each other fingers with sloppy motions. A plastic, glittery crown pins a veil to Leonie’s orange hair, a red rose woven into the lapel of Lorenz’s jacket. They are giddy and utterly intoxicated

They were the same rings that Byleth had just put on the table. 

Lysithea paused the video. 

Claude laughs, manic and uncontrolled, “Wait. Are you telling me that…” He glances to the two people beside him, “They’re married now?” 

Byleth sighs, “I did try to stop them but they were adamant. I took the rings so you wouldn’t lose them in the night.” 

Ignatz, who had stopped crying when it was revealed he was in the clear, looks between Byleth, Lorenz and Leonie, “Is this real?” 

“It better fucking not be!” Leonie snaps, getting unsteadily to her feet, her face flushed in anger and embarrassment. Swearing under her breath she storms from the room and slams the door behind her. 

Lorenz on the other hand, is sitting very quietly, his hands curled tightly into fists on his legs. He stares at the rings, his mouth pressed into a miserable line. 

Marianne reaches out and puts a hand on his leg, “Lorenz? Are you okay?” 

He flinches away from her, “Yes, until Leonie kills me. Rightfully.” He rubs his eyes, “After seeing the video I sort of remember it happening.” 

Hilda was looking at the door, biting her lip, “Leonie’s going to be in a foul mood for the rest of the day.” 

“Probably a whole week.” Lysithea comments, although from her voice and face she doesn’t seem upset by the chaos she has wrought or sympathetic to Lorenz and Leonie. 

“Well.” Claude sighs, “This will be a fun trip.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: Arizona ~


	11. Echoes in a Canyon

Leonie doesn’t show up for dinner or breakfast. Hilda and Marianne tried to coax her out but she resists all their attempts. Lorenz makes the effort to show up, although he is quiet and doesn’t fight back against the jabs Claude throws at him. 

Overall, the morning sucks. 

Their orange-haired companion only resurfaces when they’re about to leave, and she doesn’t speak a word the whole time. She just buckles her helmet on over her hair and looks straight ahead. Byleth was starting to worry about her nickname, worrying that ‘Mercenary’ would give her too many ideas of how to get out of her sudden marriage. 

She didn’t know Leonie’s feelings on murder, but she couldn’t imagine she was thinking straight right now. Lorenz at least put on the impression of coping, but it was only on the surface. 

They left early enough that they manage to make it to their next stop around lunch. The dry heat of Arizona was a distinct shift from their earlier trips. Rocky Canyons rise around them as they drive, layers of orange and red rock casting blessed shadows across them. The Painted Desert awaits them, it’s parking lot relatively empty for the time of year, and they all disembark as quickly as possible. 

Leonie still refuses to speak, instead, she just stands behind Hilda with her arms crossed, looking anywhere but at them. 

This tension would only build until it snapped, and Byleth wasn’t looking forward to the storm that would follow. 

Claude begins to pass out maps of the trails, “Each of you take one, I don’t want to lose anyone in the desert like we almost lost Marianne that one time.” 

“That was at a zoo.” Marianne defended weakly, “It’s not my fault.” 

Hilda takes her hand, “Ignore him, babe. Let’s just go explore, I want to find a rock that matches my hair.” She pulls the woman away, and Leonie stares after them, gritting her teeth. 

Typical Hilda to leave others to deal with problems. 

“Great.” Claude glares at her back before turning back to the others with a forced smile, “Shall we?” 

Lysithea and Ignatz hold up their camera and sketchbook respectively, saying together, “Going to go find a good view.” The two of them set off, Raphael trailing after them a moment later. 

Now it was just Claude, Byleth and the newlyweds. 

“Let’s just go.” Lorenz sighs, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He chooses a random path and starts down it, leaving the others with no choice but to follow. Leonie only trails after them because of the intense glare Byleth shoots her as they start moving. 

The views are amazing, the thin coloured layers of rock towering above them and creating impressive walls of stone. It would have been much nicer, Claude thinks, if he didn’t feel like he was walking with a ticking time bomb. 

It only gets worse when he looks back and sees that Byleth is no longer with them. 

“What the…” He looks around them, but he doesn’t see her anywhere. Lorenz and Leonie stop too, staring at him blankly. 

Frustrated he just points at them, “You two. Stay here. I’ll go find Teach.” He jogs back the way they came, calling her name. Lorenz wanders over to a nearby boulder and sits down, twisting his hair around one finger like he always did. He isn’t looking but he can feel Leonie glaring at him as if it’s  _ his  _ fault that they got married. 

He would bring up that it was  _ her _ drinking game that started it, but he doesn’t want to be murdered. 

Finally, he caves under the pressure, “What?” He looks directly at her, “Are you just going to glare at me or are you going to speak?” 

“I’m debating just glaring.” She growls through her teeth, her arms crossed so tightly across her chest it seems like she’s holding herself back from hitting him. 

A bad taste settles in his mouth, “Oh, because that will help.” 

Her eyes flash, “Oh? Do you have some magical solution to this problem then?” 

“What if we, I don’t know, talk about it?” He stands and approaches her but Leonie isn’t daunted by how he towers over her, “You know this doesn’t affect just you, right? I’m equally as confused and as bothered by the whole thing.” 

“Why?” Her words bite like venom, “Can’t stand being married to a commoner?” 

“I never wanted to get married.” He says it before he can stop himself and immediately regrets it. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Leonie’s words are still harsh but there is genuine confusion on her face, some of the angry tension draining from her. 

Lorenz looks away, his jaw clenching, “I never wanted to get married, ever. It all just seems like so much pomp and show for something that’s so…” He sighs, losing the word, “I don’t know. Personal? I suppose?” Leonie deflates, her arms falling to her sides. She brushes her hair back away from her face, looking up towards the blue sky. 

“I would have at least liked a white dress. Or suit, I could go either way.” She says finally, letting her head loll to the side to look at him. She still seems unhappy, so is he, but her vicious anger seems to be dissipating. 

He rubs his eyes, trying to conjure a laugh, “I’ll wear the dress next time.” He looks at her, his eyes mournful, “I’m sorry, Leonie.” 

“I’m sorry too.” She holds out a hand, “Truce?” 

He shakes it, “Truce.” She notices when their hands meet that he is wearing one of their rings. When Lorenz sees her eyes find it he pulls his hand back quickly, covering it with his other one. 

“Where’s the other one?” She asks, hands on her hips. She truly can’t figure him out. 

“I have it.” He pats his pocket, and then blanches when she holds her hand out, “Are you serious?” 

“Yeah.” She sighs, “Look, I’m not happy about this, but you’re right. I can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. For now, I might as well just accept that you and I are…” Her eyes dart away, “Married. So I’ll be needing my ring.” 

He pulls it from his pocket and passes it over, watching with eyes wide as she slips it on her finger. 

“Guys!” Claude’s voice echoes down the canyon towards them, “I found Teach!” The two of them are standing at the other end, coming towards them. Byleth has her hands cupped tightly together. 

“I found a lizard.” She says, smiling as they join Lorenz and Leonie. Holding up her hands she opens them just enough for everyone to see. Somehow she had managed to catch a small desert gecko which was huddled against her fingers. 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to touch the wildlife…” Lorenz leans away from her, worried the gecko might jump at him. 

“What,” Leonie elbows him in the side, grinning, “Not a fan of reptiles.” 

“I’m more of a dog person.” He shoots back, fixing the collar of his shirt. 

Claude and Byleth exchange a look, marveling at the severe change in attitude between the two of them.  _ What happened?  _ Claude mouths. 

Byleth smiles and shrugs, and then, without warning, dumps the lizard in his hands, “Here.” She starts towards the rocks again, “I want to find another one.” 

He yelps, trying to stop the small gecko from diving off of his hands, “Teach! Wait! No more lizards! You’ve got to stop!” 

His pleas fall on deaf ears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: Utah to visit some family members~


	12. UNO

“Gonna be honest guys.” Claude holds up his hands, “I’ve got nothing for this one.” 

“It’s just Utah.” Leonie glances at him, throwing her bag up onto her shoulder, “What do you mean you’ve ‘got nothing’?” The others get off their bikes and grab their bags, starting towards the motel office. They were at their mid-way stop, although Claude was just now revealing that he didn’t have an end stop in mind. 

“There’s like…” He frowns, “Nothing here.” 

“That’s not true.” Marianne speaks up, brushing her hair back up into her braids, “I…” She trails off, biting her lip. 

Hilda nudges her, “What’s up, Mari?” 

“I live here.” Marianne says softly, wringing her hands, “If nothing else I could ask my father if we could stay at our estate.” She winces at the word ‘estate’. Dorte whimpers and nuzzles against her leg, offering support. Absently she rubs behind the dog’s ears. 

“Are you sure?” Ignatz seems uncomfortable, “If you don’t want us too, I’m sure we can find something else to do.” 

Claude glances over his shoulder, “If not, we can always go on another nature walk.” 

Marianne giggled nervously, “Let’s just go to my house, I’ll call my father.” A cheer goes up around the group and she sighs heavily. Her adoptive father was a lovely man and he was sure to agree to let them come stay at the house, but he was also… 

Eccentric. 

—

Marianne takes the lead the next morning. Her driving is unsure, but they get to the estate soon enough. She wasn’t kidding about its vast nature. The tall white house is far from the road, a neatly tended lawn leading up to its porch. The driveway is cobblestone, and as they trundle up if carefully they can see an impressive barn off to the side, several horses grazing the vibrant house. 

“Wow.” Ignatz blanches, pulling his helmet off and fixing his glasses, “This is crazy.” 

Marianne wrings her hands, “I promise it’s not as… Uptight as Edelgards house.” 

“It’s beautiful.” Hilda links her arm through her girlfriends, “I can see you living here.” Marianne wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. Trying to shake off her unease she leads them up the porch to the front door and rang the front door. 

A few seconds later an older man throws open the door, “Marianne!” He pulls the blue-haired girl into a hug, “Welcome home!” 

She returns the hug, “Thank you, Father.” When she steps back she turns to the others, the slightest flush of embarrassment on her cheeks, “Everyone, this is my father.” Mr. Von Edmund is a tall man with short-cropped grey hair and a pair of thick-framed glasses resting on his nose. He reminded Byleth of her old college, Professor Hanneman, but kinder and easier to talk too. 

“It’s wonderful to meet those who took such good care of my sweet daughter!” He beams, speaking with an exuberance that almost matched Raphael’s, “Please! Come in!” 

They do as they’re told, stepping into a large but comfortable home. There were books on every surface and woolen rugs on the worn floors. The smell of coffee and scones filled the air. 

“Your home is amazing.” Ignatz says, speaking with stiff politeness, “Thank you for having us, sir.” 

“Ah! You must be Ignatz!” He clasps the boy on the shoulder, “Marianne has told me so much about your art! When we’re done with breakfast, I'll have to show you some of the pieces I’ve collected.” 

Hilda leans over to Byleth as they follow Mr. Von Edmund to the kitchen, “I remember Marianne saying her dad was a collector but this is crazy, right?” Byleth just shrugs, she finds it all rather fascinating, seeing the difference between Father and Daughter. 

The kitchen had large windows that looked out on a sprawling garden, the warm smell of fresh scones making all their stomachs rumble. Raphael, who must have been starving, only seemed to be holding his tongue out of not knowing how to talk to Marianne’s father. 

They all ate quickly, manners being cast aside after a few minutes of pretending to be proper. They pressed pieces of hot, buttery scone into their mouths, following it with equally hot coffee. If Mr. Von Edmund hadn’t eaten with as much gusto as they were, the group would have felt rude. 

After eating, he took Ignatz, Lorenz, Raphael, and Claude to see his collection while the others slipped outside to see the garden. Marianne took a long breath of fresh air, looking happy to be home. 

Hilda pounced on her, “You didn’t tell me you lived in a museum!” 

Marianne laughs lightly, “It does feel like that sometimes, my father is very proud of his collection.” 

Byleth runs her fingers along the stem of a tall sunflower in the garden, “He reminds me of Professor Hanneman. Except better.” Marianne smiled at that and continued to show them around the grounds. She knew every plant in the garden and lead them to the barn where she introduced them to the horses. Animals had always been taken with her, but Byleth swore it was like some kind of alarm went off when the girl was nearby. The grazing horses galloped across the pastures to greet her at the fence without her even calling for them. 

“Hello, beauties.” Marianne cooed, hoisting herself up onto the wooden fence and sitting on the top, “How are you all doing?” 

Hilda rested her hands on the fence beside her, staring up at the girl with soft eyes, “You are a Disney princess, babe.” Marianne blushes, carefully brushing the mane from the face of a gentle-looking mare. 

She introduced them all to the group, pointing to each as she did so, “This is Stahl, there’s Sully, Cain, Abel, Oscar, Sain, Keiran and Kent.” 

Her father calls from the porch before she can suggest they go riding, “Marianne! Should we show them the best collection I have?” 

Marianne considers a moment, cupping her hands over her mouth, “One second, father!” She hops down from the fence, helped by Hilda, “Shall we?” 

“What’s the best collection?” Lysithea pestered, replacing the cap on her camera. She had been taking pictures of the grounds and horses and had gotten an adorable shot of Hilda looking up at Marianne. The woman in question didn’t reply, she just leads them inside to a side room lined with tall shelves. 

Each shelf was packed tight with what had to be every board game in existence. 

“Woah!” Leonie darted to the nearest shelf and began to scan each one, “This is amazing!” 

Mr. Von Edmund grinned, beaming in pride, “This is my pride and joy! I believe Marianne and I have played every single one.” 

“He’s ruthless at monopoly,” Marianne warned, leaning into her father’s side. 

He kissed her hair, “Shall we play something? How about a rousing game of UNO?” None of them had a better idea, so they all took seats around the table while he got out the proper cards. 

Not far into the game, they realized that Byleth was not going to go easy on them. 

“Goneril.” She glared warningly at Hilda over her cards, “If you play that +4 against me, I’ll give you detention.” 

Hilda paused, her hand wavering over the set down pile. Slowly, she retracted her hand and put down a different, harmless card. Byleth’s glare was unwavering, even as she did so. 

Then she put down a card and calmly said, “UNO.” 

“Hilda!” Claude looked like he was going to rip out his hair, “She can’t give you detention! You’re not a student anymore!” 

“Shut up, Claude!” Hilda covers her face, “That glare is so scary I couldn’t help it! She has an unfair advantage.” 

Byleth just smiled, smug and promptly won the game the next round despite all of their best efforts. After a few more games, they settled in for dinner and then Mr. Von Edmund made a large pot of tea and they all sat in the fading light to talk. 

Byleth, feeling grimy from all the traveling, excused herself to take a shower before she went to bed. She loved Lysithea but she was still glad to have her own room and shower. A little privacy would do her good, maybe she would even call her father. 

Standing under the hot water, Byleth leaned her head against the wall, eyes closed. She was utterly exhausted. She was having fun, lots of it, but goddess knew she was starting to run a little ragged. The heat helped, soothing her sore muscles. There had always been a disconnect between Byleth and her body. Sometimes she felt like she was in the wrong one, or just disconnected from her movements, especially after her heart attack. 

Who was she, really? 

Shaking her head, Byleth pulls herself from such thoughts and washes the conditioner out of her hair. Turning off the water and wrapping a soft towel around her steamed body she dried off and got dressed as quickly as she could. The faster she slept, the faster she could escape the gnawing feeling of wrong chewing at her skin. 

Sleep came quickly, a blessed release. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next Stop: The Denver Botanical Gardens~


	13. Call and Response

Marianne’s father convinced them to stay another day, much to Claude’s shagrin. The rest of them were happy to have the extra time to rest in a real house, with home cooked meals.The extra time let them recenter themselves and do some laundry before they set off for the next trip. 

And Claude  _ insisted _ that they leave as soon as possible. He seemed to be on some schedule that he wouldn’t share with the rest of them. Mr. Von Edmund waved them off from the porch, and from there they resumed their hours and hours of driving. Six hours with no break for lunch, and by the time they got to where they were going Hilda was ready to kill their esteemed leader. 

“You’re a real slave-driver, Von Reigan.” Hilda groaned, as she tried to stretch away the ache in her tired muscles. 

“We’re on a schedule, dear Hilda.” Claude chides, brushing his hair back from his face, “We need to make up lost time. There will be time to rest  _ later _ .” 

“Well, at least we’ll be able to walk around a lot here!” Raphael joins them, clapping both of them on the back so hard they stumble forward. They were there at the Denver Botanical Gardens, the bright sun illuminating the tall trees at the entrance.

Ignatz looked excited, which was something. 

Byleth seemed even more quiet than usual, the bags under her eyes betraying how tired she was. Claude feels bad for pushing them so hard, but he also doesn’t want to spoil the surprise before they get to it. Hopefully he can just get them to rally, once they get past his surprise they’ll be able to take their time. 

In the meantime, if Hilda keeps calling him things like ‘stubborn oaf’ and ‘slavedriver’, thats what she was going to get. 

“Come on, Golden Deer!” He loops one arm around Lystihea and one around Leonie, “Show some spirit!” Dragging them along, he sets off towards the entrance. The rest had no choice but to follow, cramming into the entryway to buy their tickets. 

The clean air and the smell of flowers and fresh greens revitalised them. Lysithea and Ignatz ran off, pouring over a map to figure out the best flowers to get pictures of. Raphael beelined for the cafe, bemoaning an empty stomach, and Lorenz joined him to chaperone. The remaining three girls wandered off, deep in conversation. 

Claude stuck close to Byleth’s side, “Hey Teach-“ 

“Byleth.” 

_ “Teach. _ ” He pointed at the map, “Look, they have a Koi pond. We should go check it out.” 

She shrugs, “Sure.” Without another word she follows him down the path. Even as he valiantly attempted to keep up conversation she merely responded with nods and low hums. Something was clearly on her mind, but Byleth had always been an impregnable fortress to Claude. Even his discerning nature had a hard time figuring her out. 

They eventually reached the koi pond, a wide swath of clear water filled with glimmering orange and black fish. Several tall willows surrounded it, and Claude steered them towards one of the benches beneath them. Byleth sits stiffly, her back straight, her legs crossed and her hair tucked behind her ears. Her dark eyes stare straight ahead at the water. 

“You seem… Stiff, Teach.” Claude jokes, attempting to pry open the vault of her mind, “Loosen up! The air does wonders, and a woman lik-“ 

“I’m not a woman.” Her voice is surprisingly hard and she doesn’t even flinch as she says it, “Not really.” 

“Oh…” He blinks, thrown, and then fumbles to keep the threads of conversation from slipping through his fingers, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed. That one’s on me. But,” He moved a little closer, “You don’t need to worry about any of us judging you for something like that.” 

Byleth still seems uncomfortable, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth, “Most people don’t understand.” 

“We do.” Claude puts a hand on her arm, “Come on, you’ve seen how outrageously queer we all are. You’re not alone here.” He pauses, giving his words a moment to sink in, “What pronouns do you want us to use?” 

“She. Or They.” Byleth rubs the back of her neck, “Either of those are fine with me.” 

“Okay.” He smiles, “One more question, do you want to tell the others or do you want me to quietly fill them in?” 

She thinks for a long moment before responding, “I’ll tell them.” Claude moves to respond when the sound of running feet pulls his attention away. Lysithea runs up to them, ducking under the branches of the tree and doubles over to catch her breath. 

“I lost…” She pants, hands braced on her thighs, “I lost Ignatz.”

“What?!” Claude bolts to his feet, “Where? How?” 

“Over on the other side of the garden.” She points, “I looked up from taking pictures and he was just gone! I called his name and looked around but he didn’t reply/“ 

Byleth stands too, pulling out her phone, “Did you-“ 

“Yes, I called him.” She interrupts, “He didn’t pick up.” 

“Call the others.” Claude orders, moving back towards the path, “Tell them to meet up at the cafe by the entrance, Raphael and Lorenz are still there.” It doesn’t take long for them all to rally at the cafe and from there they start into the park, calling his name. No one responds, all they get are glares from the other patrons wandering the park. 

“Ignatz!” Raphael cups his hands around his mouth, “Hey! Ignatz!” 

“Where did he go?” Hilda groans, brushing her hair away from her face, “Running off on us is such a hassle.” 

“Don’t be such an ass, Hilda.” Leonie scowls, “He could be hurt!” 

Byleth stops them, “Look.” She points. Ignatz is sitting on a bench off to the side, talking to a child. He is cradling one eye, the child's face red and puffy from crying. 

The group surrounds him, “Ignatz!” 

“Guys!” He blinks startled, “There you are!” He is sporting a black eye and broken glasses, dried blood crusting under his nose. 

“What happened to you?!” Marianne gasps, rifling in her bag for her first aid kit. 

“Yeah!” Lysithea stamps her foot, “You just ran off.” 

Ignatz accepts the alcohol wipe Marianne hands him, “I saw a few guys running off with this kid, so I followed.” He gestures to the child beside him, who is staring up at them all with wide, watery eyes, “This is Kana. Those men took him from his mother.” 

“And you got between them?” Claude rakes a hand through his hair, “Ignatz! What were you thinking?!” 

“I was trying to help.” Ignatz defends, pulling his broken glasses off and carefully folding them closed, “I wasn’t just going to let them get away. More importantly, we need to find Kana’s mother.” 

Kana sniffs, speaking for the first time, “I don’t know where Mama is…” 

Raphael crouches down beside him, “Don’t worry, kiddo! We’ll help you find her!” Carefully he picks Kana up and hoists him up onto his shoulders, “Kana’s Mom!” He called out into the gardens, “We found your son!” They began to retrace their steps, yelling for his mother. 

Several people gave them very strange looks, but a few began to help spread the word. A few minutes later, a very panicked woman ran up to them. 

“Mama!” Kana holds out his arms and Raphael sets him down. 

“Kana!” The woman kneels to embrace her son, tears streaming down her cheeks, “There you are! I thought I had lost you!” 

Kana pulls away, “I was taken by some big scary men but then this nice man found me.” He points at Ignatz, who is still trying to clean the blood from his nose, “And then he and his friends brought me to you!” 

“Thank you so much.” The woman stands and addresses Ignatz, her hand tight on her sons, “I can’t thank you enough.” 

He waves his hands in front of him, embarrassed, “Oh, no, it’s fine, really, I just did my best to help.” The two of them thanked him again and then walked off, Kana waving over his shoulder. 

“Well.” Lorenz claps Ignatz on the shoulder, “Ignatz to the rescue.” 

“I’m just glad there was a happy ending.” Ignatz says, “And that I have an extra pair of glasses in my suitcase.” 

Marianne shakes her head, “You’re all so reckless. Come on, we need to get some ice on your eye before it starts to swell really badly.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: A much needed rest day in Santa Fe!


	14. The Ultimate Shopper

The drive to the next stop took longer than Claude was expecting. They drove slow and stopped frequently to take care of Ignatz’s eye, which had still swollen badly despite Marianne’s best work. 

It doesn’t bother him too much this time, he didn’t have anything super intense planned so the fact that they missed it is okay. A nice rest day in Santa Fe would be good. 

He needs to repay Byleth for the earrings. 

When they make it to the Hotel and settle down, Marianne foists more ice and tylenol on Ignatz to help his eye. He had thrown out his broken glasses and replaced them with his backups, which were a different shape and throwing everyone off. 

“Santa Fe is a beautiful city.” Ignatz comments, forcing peppiness into his voice, “I wish I could see it with two eyes.” 

Raphael frowns, “Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten in the way of a kidnapping, Ignatz. You should have come and gotten me.” 

Byleth steps up to cut the argument off, “Let’s not dwell on it.” She ruffled Ignatz’s hair, “As long as the swelling goes down he’ll be fine.” 

Claude watched the scene from a distance, focusing on other things. He was still playing the conversation from yesterday over in his head. Byleth’s stiff posture, the conflicted emotions on her face, the way she looked guilty at her own outburst. There had to be some way he could convince her that she was okay, and everything was going to be fine. He just… hadn’t thought of anything yet. 

“Claudee.” Hilda sung his name, waving a hand in front of his face, “Earth to Claude von Reigan, is anyone there?” 

He swatted her hand away, “I’m here, don’t smack me please.” 

She shrugs, “You looked so dramatic, staring off into the distance like you were.” 

“I try.” He looped an arm around her shoulder, addressing the Golden Deer, “All right team, to give poor Ignatz some time to rest I figured today could just be a shopping day.” 

“Yes!” Hilda cheered, ducking out from under her arm to grab her purse and her girlfriend, “Let’s go!” 

Marianne tried to protest, keen on continuing to tend to Ignatz, “Hilda, wait-“ 

“It’s okay.” Ignatz waved her off, smiling, “I don’t mind just staying here and resting. I’ll listen to podcasts and stuff, you guys go have fun!” 

“If you’re sure.” Raphael’s mouth twists into a firm line, “I’ll go find you something really nice! A cool souvenir of the city!” He ran off, beating Hilda and Marianne to the door. The rest of them quickly followed, hoping to keep the large man from wreaking havoc in his search, waving to Ignatz as they go. 

Claude sticks up Hilda's side as everyone splits up, “Hey, can you help me with something?” 

She looks up from her phone, her heart shaped sunglasses obscuring her eyes, “Sure, with what?” 

He wrings his hands, “I want to get Byleth something.” 

“Oh!” She clapped her hands together, suddenly  _ very _ interested, “That’s so romantic!” 

He blushed furiously, “Nothing like that.” He turns his head, “She got me this earring I feel like I should get her something in return.” 

“You’re sweet, Claude.” Hilda loops one arm through his and the other through Marianne’s, “Hm… What would Byleth like…” She pulled them along the street towards the shopping center. Under Hilda’s direction they cut through the shopping center with impressive efficiency, but he ended up with a lot of things for himself, and nothing for Byleth. 

“Hilda,” He followed her out of the store, putting his bags down, “While I’m very satisfied with our haul, I still don’t have anything for Byleth.” 

Marianne, biting her lip, pointed at the shop across from them, “What about that?” He follows the direction of her finger and sees what she is indicating. Sitting in the window of a cheesy card store was a giant stuffed Dragon. It was more like a big white oval with wings and horns, but it was  _ perfect _ . 

“You are a lifesaver!” Claude pecks Marianne on the cheek and races towards the store, leaving his bags behind in his hurry. 

“Wait!” Hilda grabbed his bags, looping them over hers as she did so, “Claude! Hold on!” He doesn’t wait for them, nearly crashing into a candle display on his way towards the stuffed animal. 

It’s so soft that for a moment he considers keeping it for himself, but he’s not really a dragon person. If it had been a deer, that would be a different story. 

Carrying it up to the cashier, he asks for the biggest bag they had, hoping to obscure it so he could really surprise her. 

Hilda couldn’t even be mad at him for saddling her with all his bags. He looked so happy with the gift that it warmed her heart. He’d better do something this nice for her since she helped him. 

The whole way back to the hotel he wouldn’t stop blathering about how much he loved everything they had gotten. 

But all three of them stopped short when they saw Byleth, Leonie and Lorenz waiting for them outside the hotel. Lorenz had mentioned a spa just before they had split off, and clearly he had made good on that promise. 

Leonie had gotten her hair cut into a faded pixie cut, her orange hair cropped close on the sides. Loren, on the opposite end, had gotten his hair straightened and blown out, the curtain of violet hair brushing the curve of his jaw. 

And Byleth had cut most of hers off. Her dark hair was now a short layered bob held back from her face by a thin black headband. A few stray wisps danced around her face in the wind. 

Claude almost choked on his own breath. 

“Oh my goodness!” Hilda gasped, “You all look amazing!” She ran up and cupped Leonie’s face, “Back to the short hair I see, I love it!” 

Leonie beams, “I missed it, honestly. The long hair was nice, but not my style.” 

“The fade is rather nice.” Lorenz agrees, running his freshly manicured nails through his hair, “It’s very flattering.” 

“Oh, so my long hair wasn’t flattering?” She rounds on him, “Is that what you’re saying?” 

“No!” He holds up his hands, “I just meant that this haircut is a really good look for you! It’s pretty!” 

“Oh.” Leonie relaxes, blushing, “Okay, that makes sense.” 

Byleth shakes her head at their nonsense and Claude can’t tear his eyes away. It was just a haircut, why was his heart trying to break its way out of his ribs?

She notices his look, “What?” Her eyebrows furrow, “Is something wrong?” 

“O-oh, no!” He holds up his hands, his bags falling down his arms, “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just surprised!” 

Brushing her hair back behind her ears she smiles slightly, “I like it. It’s a nice change.” 

“It’s really nice.” He says, and then catches himself, “Going to be a lot nicer to wear a helmet over.” 

“Okay, okay.” Leonie steps back and holds open the hotel door, “Come on, Lysithea and Raphael went ahead to check on Ignatz so we could go get lunch.” They followed her up to their rooms to drop off their bags and Claude did his best to sneakily drop the bag with the stuffed dragon in it on Byleth’s bed while Hilda distracted her. 

Now all he had to do was wait and see if she found it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: Texas


	15. Honeymoon Phase

“Her name is Sothis.” Byleth hugs the dragon tight, “And I would die for her.” 

Lysithea, who is lying on her stomach on her own bed, looks up from her camera, “Who even gave it to you?” 

She shrugs, “I’m assuming Claude since I bought him the earrings.” Sinking deeper into the covers, Byleth closes her eyes and pulls the stuffed animal closer to her chest. Today was good. Her haircut feels nice and her stomach was full of delicious food. Raphael had tracked down a few restaurants near a movie theater, which had taken up the rest of their day. 

“Hey, Byleth.” Lysithea rolls onto her side, her voice pulling the woman from her thoughts, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve been quite talkative today.” 

“I guess you’re right.” Byleth sighs, brushing her bangs back from her forehead,

“It’s not a bad thing.” Lysithea rolls back over and continues sorting through her pictures, “It’s nice to hear you telling us all off like you used too.” 

Byleth makes a noise between a scoff and a laugh, worming her way under the covers and rolling away from the girl. After a few minutes, Lysithea let out a long sigh, set her camera down and turned the lights off, settling in to sleep as well. 

They had another long drive tomorrow. 

In the morning they dressed, packed and ate quickly before hitting the road. Claude told them as they pulled out of the city that it was a nine-hour drive to their next stop, Dallas, Texas, so they would be stopping to rest at a motel overnight. 

The drive is taxing and long, all of them sighing in relief when Claude signals for them to pull off. This hotel is bigger than the last one they stayed in. 

“And,” Claude tries to sound like an enthusiastic salesman, “We also get  _ TVs  _ in this motel.” 

“Fancy.” Leonie groaned, scrubbing at her eyes, “Can’t wait to use those.” 

“Come on, Team.” He tries to rally them, “Let’s go get dinner and then see what happens.” They crossed the road to a small shopping plaza and found a cheap chain restaurant. The food wasn’t good, but on their empty stomachs, it did enough of a job. 

Lorenz and Leonie were the first to peel off back to their rooms, and Lorenz assumed they were going to part ways when Leonie followed him to his own room. 

“Can we talk?” She stands in the doorway, framed by the streetlights outside. 

He swallows hard, suddenly nervous, “I suppose. What about? 

“Us. Or whatever this is between us.” She steps into the room and lets the door fall shut behind her. 

“Is something the matter?” Lorenz turns away as if to be nonchalant but instead, it’s to hide the flash of fear that crosses his face. 

“Well.” She crosses her arms over her chest, “How far are we taking this whole marriage thing? Is it just an arrangement or are we…” Gesturing with one hand, her face scrunches up in frustration, “Together?” 

“Like… Kissing and sex and the whole romance thing?” Lorenz tilts his head, watching Leonie’s face flush red, “I mean, If you want too. Of course, I would never try to force you into anything, I’m not a scumbag regardless of what you think of me. We can put on the show of a happy couple although I'm sure that the others won’t buy it unless we’re really convincing, or we could try to get it annulled or get a divorce although I’m sure my fath-“ 

His words are cut off suddenly as Leonie grabs the front of his shirt with both hands and yanks him down for a kiss. Her lips crash against his sloppily, all speed and no finesse. 

When she pulls away she’s breathing heavily, her eyes burning, “You’re an idiot, Lorenz.” 

He blinks, still startled from the kiss to realize what is happening, “What?” 

She pushes him back into the worn chair, sliding into his lap, “Why did you think I was asking?” 

Outside the room, Claude comes dangerously close to disaster. He had forgotten his key and was moving to knock on the door when something through the window catches his eye. The curtains are pulled most of the way closed, but through the gap in the fabric, he sees more than he wished he had. 

“Agh!” He recoiled from the door and covered his eyes, “Okay… Guess I’m not sleeping there tonight.” Claude turns and clutches the railing, creeping away from the room hand over hand. Wavering, he wondered where to go. Hilda and Marianne would take him in but he didn’t want to impose, and Raphael and Ignatz only had one bed. 

Grumbling under his breath he speed-walks to Byleth and Lysithea’s room and knocks on the door. 

After a few seconds, Lysithea opens the door wearing a baggy t-shirt over fuzzy pajama pants, “Claude? What do you want?” He glances past her to see Byleth standing in the door of the bathroom with a toothbrush between her teeth. 

“Well.” He laughs nervously, brushing his hair back from his face, “It turns out that Lorenz and Leonie aren’t as unhappily married as we thought!” His words clearly carry their intended meaning because a shocked, embarrassed flush rises to Lystihea’s cheeks. 

“You got sexiled?” Lysithea stands back and lets him into the room. 

“Yeah, basically.” He slips past her and throws himself onto the nearest bed, “Trust me, I saw too much.” 

“Gross.” Byleth joined them, nudging Claude’s arm out of the way and sitting back against the headboard. He mirrors her stance and realizes that the TV is hooked to Lystihea’s laptop and playing Blue Planet. 

“Ah.” He settles back, “Movie night?” 

Lysithea yawns, her fingers tapping quickly across the screen of her phone, “Well, we’re in such luxury with these TVs I figured we might as well take advantage of it. 

“I like the ones about the ocean.” Byleth comments. Claude hums in agreement under his breath and pulls out his own phone to text Hilda. 

_ Sent: So,,, Leonie won’t be home tonight she and Lorenz are having fun. _

_ Received from Hilda! Hilda!: Oh? Did you get sexiled? _

_ Sent: Yeah, Lysithea said the same thing lmao.  _

_ Received from Hilda! Hilda!: Oooo, hanging out with Bylethh? ; ) _

_ Sent: Shut up Hilda : )  _

_ Received from Hilda! Hilda!: Have fun, Claudikins < 3 I’m gonna take advantage of Leonie’s absence.  _

_ Sent: Rude. You were supposed to save me. _

She left him on read after that, and Claude sighed heavily, sinking down and letting his phone fall to his chest. He let his eyes fall closed, tired and worn from the long drive. After a few seconds, he felt Byleth’s fingers card through his hair, running along his scalp. It feels heavenly, and he has to stop himself from trying to curl closer to her. When he opens his eyes just a bit to look at her, her eyes are still fixed on the TV, a small smile on her face.

He fell asleep there, curled up with her fingers running through his hair. 

When he wakes up someone has thrown a blanket over him. Sunlight is just starting to filter in through the gap in the curtains, casting the small room in faint light. Byleth is curled up with her back to him, the covers pulled high up over her chin. 

Carefully he extracts himself from the blankets and slips out of the room, stretching his arms up over his head to get the sleep stiffness out of his muscles. As he turned towards his own room, he saw Leonie scurrying back to her own room as well. For a moment he considers calling after her but holds his tongue instead. Better to let her and Lorenz do… this, instead of being at each other’s throats. 

Thankfully, she had left the door unlocked, giving him access to slip into the room. He braces for something to be wrong in the room but it all looks… normal. Cleaner even. 

“Ah, Claude.” Lorenz steps out of the bathroom, a damp facecloth in his hands, “I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t know that…” He sighs, “I didn’t mean for you to get kicked out.” 

“Hey man.” Claude holds up his hands, “It’s no problem, really. I’m glad you two are having fun.” 

Lorenz looks conflicted, “Yeah. I suppose.” He runs the cloth over his face once more and then hangs it up on the bathroom door handle, “It’s only five in the morning, I was going to try to get more sleep unless we’re heading out.” 

“No, more sleep sounds good.” He yawns, realizing that despite sleeping well he was still extremely tired, “Is the other bed…?” 

“It’s clean.” The other man walks past him to the unmade bed, “Don’t worry, I cleaned everything else too.” 

“Thank you.” Claude sits down on the bed, “Hey, Lorenz?” 

“Yes?” 

Claude opens his mouth to speak but… he doesn’t really know what he was going to say, “Uh, just. Glad things are working out for you?” 

Lorenz doesn’t reply, instead making that same conflicted grimace and rolling away from him. Claude wonders what that face means, but he doesn’t know how to approach that conversation. he worms out of his jeans and under the covers, letting himself fall back asleep. 

\--

Claude realizes that his plans have a bit of a hole in them when they get to Dallas. The plans that he has written in this Secret Scheme Journal just say ‘Party Hard’. They end up getting to the city around eleven in the morning, far too early for any extreme partying, even by his standards.  He can’t suggest another shopping trip, or just hanging out. 

So he cops out and finds the nearest, most interesting museum he can for them to hide out in after lunch until an acceptable time of night. 

_ Then _ it’s time to party hard. 

He leads them to  _ The Radiant Hero _ bar, proudly showing it off with jazzhands. The others don’t look as impressed as he had been hoping. 

“Come on!” He moves behind the group and starts indiscriminately pushing them towards the door, “Let loose!” 

Byleth and Lysithea find a table in the corner and settle down with a deck of cards, playing some game that Claude doesn’t recognize. The others spread out to get drinks and dance. 

Hilda spots Lorenz standing alone by the bar, his fingers tight around a glass of water, and dances her way through the crowd towards him. She’d lost Marianne in the crowds but had a feeling she had escaped to sit in the corner and play cards with their two non drinkers. 

“What’s up with you?” Hilda manages to break through the dancers to Lorenz, although she needs to yell over the heady beat of the music. 

“I’m fine.” He yells back, frowning, “Why? Because I’m drinking water?”

“You’re usually a fruity drink person.” 

“Last time I got hammered I woke up married.” He takes a sip of his water, “I’m having fun.” 

She wedges herself onto the bar beside him, “No you’re not. This place not to your standards?” 

“Don’t you think this is…” He looks around, “Below our stature?” 

Hilda rolls her eyes, “You know what your problem is, Lorenz? You’re so worried about your reputation that you don’t know how to have fun.” She pushes away from the bar and leaves him there to think about her words, melding into the crowd of dancers once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop: Somewhere very special for Claude's Big Surprise TM


	16. Surprise, Surprise

“Claude.” Ignatz pulled his helmet off and looked up at the house in front of them, “I really hate when you lead us to random houses without warning.” 

“Don’t worry, Ignatz.” Claude, who is already halfway up the front steps, pauses to call the words over his shoulder, “We’re just here to grab something and then we’ll be off.” He rings the doorbell, waiting impatiently. The sign next to the front porch reads “Matriz Tailoring”. 

A familiar blonde woman opens the door, a smile on her face, “Ah, I was wondering when you were going to show up!” Mercedes laughs at her own comment, her light voice a sound for sore ears, “Come in! Come in!” 

Ignatz slides up to Hilda, “Why are we at Mercedes’ house?” 

Hilda shrugs, “Claude doesn’t tell me anything.” 

“You’re not a very good second in command.” 

“It’s not like I'm getting paid for it,” Hilda grumbles, following them inside the house. Everything is light and clean, the walls painted blue with gold trim. The whole thing screamed Mercedes, down to the flowers hanging in the wide windows and the mannequins scattered about. Each was dressed in handmade clothes in various states of completion. 

Seeing all the costumes and dresses around made them all nervous. 

“So!” Mercedes led them to a neat kitchen where she began to gather mugs for tea, “How has your trip been?” 

“Exciting.” Lysithea sighed, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table, “We’ve been on a lot of nature walks, been to a lot of bars, oh! And Lorenz and Leonie got married!” 

Mercedes nearly spills the tea she’s pouring, “Oh?” She looks to the two people in question, “Congratulations?” 

Leonie runs a hand through her hair, “Thanks. I guess.” Silence falls on the space as their host pours them all drinks. 

“Well.” Mercedes smiles, “I’ll go get your costumes!” She leaves the room, her long peach skirt brushing the floor. 

All eyes turn to Claude.

“Costumes?” Lorenz asks, voice tight, “What the  _ fuck _ did you get us into?” 

“Think about it, Lorenz.” Claude takes a sip of his tea, his eyes glinting with his usual trickster gleam, “Where are we?” 

“Louisiana.” Ignatz drums his fingers on the table and then freezes, eyes going wide, “Oh my god, did you… Your big surprise was Mardi Gras!” 

_ “Ding ding ding!”  _ Claude cheers, “Ignatz Victor is the winner!” Everyone stares at him in shock, mouths agape. 

“And…” Marianne swallows hard, “You commissioned Mercedes to make us all costumes?

“Yes!” As if summoned by the sound of her name, Mercedes returns with several boxes in hand, “They were very fun to make! I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do!” She puts the boxes on the table and begins passing them out. Each one is labeled in neat cursive with their names, the mounds of fabric inside colored purple, gold and green. 

Claude passes Marianne a small bag, “I even had something made for Dorte.” 

“Aw.” She smiles and opens the bag, pulling out a harness decked with fabric flowers. Her whole outfit is ringed in matching florals, it’s long skirt lined with a fluffy layer of gold sparkly tule. The mask that accompanies it is light and simple, tucking under the hair of her bangs. 

“These costumes are amazing!” Ignatz beams, pressing his own mask over his glasses. 

Mercedes laughs, “Thank you! I worked tirelessly on them, but it was a lot of fun!” She winks, “And I was paid well~!” 

Claude presses a finger to his lips, “Shh, don’t give away my secret, Mercedes.” 

She waves him off, “Never!” 

After they head out from her house they stop at their rooms to clean up and get dressed, slipping into their new costumes. Standing in front of the mirror, Hilda runs her hands across the sequins of her bodice. Mercedes’ went rather risky with her costume, the front cut low and revealing, windows on her sides and thighs baring her fair skin. The whole thing shimmers in a gradient of colored sequins, long tight sleeves showing off the defined muscles in her arms. 

“You look great.” Marianne’s voice makes her turn, her girlfriend standing in the doorway in her own flowing dress. She had taken her hair from its usual braided bun, her sky blue hair cascading down her shoulders in gentle waves. 

“Thanks, Babe!” Hilda saunters over and loops her arms around the other woman's shoulders, “You look amazing too.” She kisses her nose, sighing happily. Part of her wished they just had a night staying in, where she could just lie in bed and cuddle her girlfriend, but tonight was a night for fun. 

“Where’s your mask?” Marianne tilts her head, her light fingers brushing Hilda’s sides.

“On the bed.” Reluctantly she steps back and retrieves her mask, the wireframe dotted with magnificent feathers. She slips it on and then returns to Marianne, taking her free hand and watching the woman wind Dorte’s leash around her hand. 

“Shall we go meet the others?” Marianne smiles, leaning in to kiss Hilda on the cheek. Hand in hand they leave the room, finding the others in the hall. 

Claude, dressed in an elaborate series of sashes over a tunic, holds out his hands, “You all look  _ marvelous _ .” He bows and offers his hand to Lysithea, who is standing closest, “Shall we?” 

She smacks his hand away, “No thanks, Claude.” 

He takes her rejection in stride, turning on his heel and leading them out of the hotel. The roads are already bustling, people dressed in bright colors flowing towards the parade road like water. They join the stream, trying to keep track of each other as they go. It’s hard, but they try to use Raphael as a landmark, his tall green hat and mask making him a pillar among the crowd. 

Ignatz sticks very close to his boyfriend's side, his sight still a little off from the blackeye and the mask together. He likes the idea of the parade, and he’s looking forward to it but he wished that he would be able to see it properly. 

“Hey,” Raphael leans down and takes Ignatz’s hand, smiling down at him, “Are you ready?” 

“Yeah!” Ignatz adjusts his mask, “I hear they throw lots of things into the crowd. Think you can catch something?” 

“Oh yeah!” Raphael flexes his free arm, “I’ll get you all the stuff, babe!” 

He laughs, “I’m sure you will.” The other man beams, and then his face shifts. 

“You and I haven’t had much time together recently, huh?” 

“I guess…” Ignatz pauses to think, “You’re right. Aside from sleeping we really haven’t.” 

“I think we should fix that.” Raphael pauses as the two of them have to briefly separate to get around a group of people, “What if we skip out on the wild partying after the parade and go back to the hotel to spend some time together? You could keep reading that story you’ve been reading to me.” Raphael  _ could _ read, despite what people assumed from his appearance, thanks to Byleth’s extensive tutoring lessons at the academy. He just liked the sound of Ignatz’s voice and how he really got into the story as he went. 

“I would love that.” Ignatz smiles up at him, raising their joined hands to kiss Raphael’s worn knuckles. 

“Cute.” Lysithea ducked between their joined hands, sticking her tongue out, “I want a front-row spot!” They finally made it to the road, the beginning of the parade starting to round the corner. She clambered up on a nearby box, one hand on her mask as she went. 

“Be careful.” Byleth warned, stepping up to stand beside her, “Beads might hit you in the face.” 

“Nice.” Lysithea pulled out her camera, “Raphael will catch me.” 

“Oh.” The man in question laughed, “I’ll try.” 

The parade is truly something to behold, intricate floats, dancers and bands make their way past, beads, doubloons, cups, and stuffed animals being thrown into the crowds. Raphael jumps to catch things, Lysithea catching some action shots of him mid-leap. People dance to the music and chat with people beside them, the music and laughter (and probably booze) loosening lips and usual barriers of society. 

It was a lot of fun, but they were all exhausted by the end of it. With the exception of Raphael and Ignatz, the rest of them were invited to a party nearby where they participated in bad karaoke and danced late into the night. 

By the time they got back to the hotel, most of them were near deliriously tired. Claude, in slow, slurred words, told them all to sleep in the next morning. They all mumbled goodnight and shuffled to their respective rooms. 

“Hey, Byleth…” Claude stopped the woman just before following Lorenz into their shared room. 

She turned, prying her mask from her face, “Yes?” He didn’t manage to say anything else, instead stepping forward and taking hold of her arm. Claude pulled her in and kissed her, a brief, soft press of their lips. 

They separate and he steps back, shaking his head, “Sorry, I’ve just… Wanted to do that for a while.” Almost in a trance he turns and walks back into his room, leaving her stunned in the hall. 

Byleth can only stare at the closed door he left behind, her eyes wide. While she had been tired before the kiss had shot through her like a bolt of lightning. Her heart pounded in her chest, so unusually fast that for a moment she’s afraid she might keel over with a heart attack then and there in the hallway. Backing up to the door of her own room, she opens it and slips inside, still in a daze. Lysithea, having gone home early, was already in bed. 

Byleth hurried to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water, wondering why on earth her heart was trying to escape her chest. It was just a kiss, why was she reacting like a schoolgirl? 

She shakes her head and tries to put her feelings out of her mind, instead peeling off her dress and taking a quick, cold shower to cleanse the sweat and glitter from her body. 

Feelings were tomorrow's problem, if Claude even remembered what transpired. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Next stop, Arkansas and Oklahoma in one stop~


End file.
